Winter Games
by luluvee
Summary: Edward Cullen is a professional snowboarder and dirty-mouthed slope king; Bella Swan is a world renowned figure skater and not so innocent ice princess. What happens when their two worlds collide at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games?
1. Ice & Snow

******Disclaimer:** **Any and all publicly recognizable characters, settings, lyrics, writings, etc. are the property of their respective owners/creators**. Any and all original content is property of the author, who, in this case, happens to be me. In other words, I don't own Twilight, I just manipulate SM's characters into bastardized versions of themselves and I don't own pretty much anything else, either.

**Thanks to Charm, Megan, and Zi for their unending love and support!**

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**Chapter One: Ice & Snow**

"Bella! Bella!"

"What's it feel like to be participating in your first Olympic games, Bella?"

"How do you feel the competition is shaping up this year, Mr. McCarty?"

"Emmett! Can I have an autograph?"

"Bella! Are the rumors about you and Jasper true?"

"Emmett! Over here!"

Keeping her head ducked and her hood over most of her face was hard considering that the crush of fans and paparazzi were jostling her so roughly, Bella felt like she was in a paint shaker. And it didn't help that, when on two flat feet, she was about as graceful as a one legged duck on a unicycle.

A reassuring squeeze on her arm gave her a last surge of determination, and she successfully made it through the ooze of fame-mongers and to the side of the behemoth SUV awaiting her.

"Alright!" Emmett boomed, placing a protective arm around his sister's shoulder. "Everybody move it!"

A few moments later, Emmett had the back door of the vehicle open and was literally lifting Bella into the back seat before following her inside. The door shut with thud, and the cacophany of yelling and flashbulbs decreased exponentially.

"Wow," Bella breathed, staring through the tinted windows at the people still clamoring for their attention. Emmett laughed.

"Yeah, shit like this is a big deal," he told her, buckling his seat belt as the car began to move, taking them from the airport to the house they rented near the Olympic Village. "You get used to it. And it only happens every four years, so it's not totally overwhelming. Now buckle up."

Doing as she was told, Bella pulled the seat belt across her body and fastened it, all the while thinking of what she was about to experience.

She, Bella Swan- shy, introverted klutz extrodinare- was living out her dream and participating in the Olympics.

"Excited?" Emmett asked, grinning as he saw the look of apprehensive awe on his little sister's face. He knew the feeling, and he knew it well. This would be his fourth Olympic games, and the nervous anticipation was something that never changed or went away.

All Bella could do was nod as she tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. In just a little while, the car would drop them off right beside the Olympic Village, and the slight cynical hope that this was all just a dream would be broken. Her phone chirped from her pocket, breaking her out of her pessimistic internal musings. It was a text from Jasper.

'hey sweets. caught the back of u & em gettin into ur car. im right behind u.'

Stupidly, Bella actually turned in her seat and glanced out the back window of the SUV, even though she knew that Jasper wasn't literally behind them.

"It's Jazz," she told her brother when he looked at her questioningly. "He said he saw us at the airport but was too far behind."

Emmett just nodded and settled into his seat while Bella texted her partner back, telling him that they'd meet up at the house since he wouldn't be too far behind.

"Are you sure you can't stay with me longer, Em?" Bella asked, breaking the silence that ensued after the text was sent. Her voice sounded small and childlike to her ears.

Emmett pulled his sister into his side for a one-armed hug. "As much as I really want to, Bells, we both know I can't. It's just tonight, then I have to head over to Whistler. But you'll have Jasper and Maggie with you. And Charlie and Renée will be up soon."

Bella sighed. "I know. It's just..."

"I know." The squeeze of the hug tightened all the more, and Bella knew that her big brother understood.

"Edward, man... Let's go. I want to hit the slopes early in case things turn nasty out."

Groaning into his pillow, Edward rolled over and glared at the ceiling as he pictured Mike's face and all the torturous things he wanted to do to it. The persistent knocking began again.

"Edward! Dude! Let's go already!"

"Fuck, Newton!" Edward yelled, wincing as the pain in his throat grated and turned his annoyed cry into an exasperated rasp. _Shit, I hope I'm not getting sick, _he thought. "Just go ahead without me. I'll catch up."

There was some grumbling outside his door and stillness before he heard Mike's retreating footsteps followed by a yell to the others that Edward was 'too pussy to get his ass out of bed.'

"Fuck you, Newton," he groused, climbing out of bed and stalking towards the ensuite bathroom. He tried to ignore the aches in his back and his joints that accompanied the sore throat, but he knew that to do that would be athletic suicide. Instead, he ignored the haggard looking reflection in the mirror and pulled out a bottle of Buckley's from medicine cabinet. Not bothering to read the instructions on the label, he opened it and took a healthy swig, fighting the urge to spit it out as he swallowed.

"Tastes awful, all right," he mused, recapping the bottle and trading it for his toothbrush.

As he brushed his teeth, Edward walked into the walk-in closet and began to pull out clothes to wear for the day, tossing them onto the vanity island in the middle of the immense wardrobe. His gear, he hoped, was all put away in the equiptment room where it should be.

After his clothes were set out, he finished brushing his teeth and dressed, not bothering to shower because he'd just get sweaty anyway. While pulling on his second pair of thermal socks, he heard his phone ring out from the bedroom, his sister's personal ringtune - 'Popular' from the musical Wicked.

"Hey, Elph," he greeted, wincing slightly as his throat stung with the effort to speak.

"Are you sick? You can't get sick! What's wrong with you?! Go drink a bottle of Buckley's and rub some Vicks on yourself, and drink some green tea and heat up some soup because if you're contagious by the time I get there I will happily kick your sorry, pasty white-"

"I miss you, too, Elph." He laughed, using his nickname for her again as he cut her off. He heard her sigh on the other end of the line.

"We're on our way," she told him. "We're driving down to Toronto and taking a Porter flight out this afternoon. We should be there late tonight. Don't go out on the slopes if you're sick."

"I'll be fine, Alice," he replied, leaving the bedroom and heading toward the kitchen. Rifling through the pantry, he found what he was looking for: two packages of cherry Halls lozenges.

"I'm just going out for a quick run on the slopes with the guys, maybe some pipe time, and I promise you I will be back in bed. And don't tell Mom I'm sick! So, do you guys want me to pick you up from the airport?"

"No, Mom said not to bother. We're coming in really late. Dad arranged a car for us, so if the weather isn't too bad we'll drive straight up. If not, we'll just grab a hotel room and come up in the morning."

Edward walked to the equipment room and spied his snow gear. He shoved the lozenges into his parka pocket and began to suit up. "Cool. How was the snow at Blue?"

"Pretty shitty the first few days; all that crappy powder that you can't do anything with. But then we got a huge snowstorm and that brought down the good stuff. How's it up at Whistler?"

"Primo," he answered, stuffing his unruly auburn hair into his favorite red Team Canada toque and pulling the wool over his ears. He fished his iPhone out of the tangled mess he made of himself and continued to relay the weather conditions on the mountains.

"It's crisp out and the snow's not too packed. And it's only, like, minus eight or nine degrees out."

"Damn, it's warm," Alice whistled.

"Yeah, it's supposed to last through the morning, and then we're supposed to get hit with a snowsquall this afternoon. Hopefully it'll be over quick." He placed the phone on the bench by his legs as he pulled his goggles over his head. He picked it up just in time to listen to Alice's musings.

"... strange. It doesn't usually snow that bad in BC."

"Global warming, Elph," Edward remarked, slinging his backpack over one shoulder and grabbing his boots and board from their respective racks. "If last winter was any indication, the VANOC may not have to resort to snow machines."

A very disgruntled harrumph sounded in his ear and Edward couldn't help but laugh. Alice preferred snow making machines; she hated the unpredictability of naturally occurring snow.

"Alright, Elph," he said, stowing his gear into the back of his silver Volvo XC90. "I'm off to grind some out on the slopes. Catch you later?"

"Yeah. And eat something before you get sicker. Love you, Eddie."

"Love you, too, Ali."

Emmett let out a roar as the spectators on the television screen followed suit. Bella couldn't tell whether it was in appreciation or protest, and that made her giggle a little bit.

"Girlie! You best get your head out of that game and into this one if you're looking towards gold."

Seated at the breakfast bar beside Jasper, Bella looked over to their coach, Maggie.

"Sorry, Mags. Is there any way to get some free time in between all the practicing and the US Championships? I mean, there must be others who've signed up for ice time."

"Head in the game, cailín," the short red-headed Irish woman chided. "You can't be worrying about anything now except you and Jasper, understood?"

Bella just nodded mutely while Jasper grasped her hand and rubbed small, reassuring circles into her palm.

"Be easy on the girl, Mags," he said to their coach. He turned to Bella. "We're here early; I'm sure we'll have time enough to see Em up in Whistler before things get crazy. Maybe we'll even check out the X-Games. They have arenas in Aspen."

Maggie scowled and stomped towards the fridge, muttering obscenities under her breath in Gaelic. Bella mouthed 'thank you' to her partner and best friend, and Jazz winked back.

The four of them had finished dinner and while Emmett was engrossed in a hockey game; the remaining three had gone over the training schedule Maggie had drawn up. Consisting mostly of arena time and gym time before and after the US Figure Skating Championships, the schedule had left little time for anything other than sleeping and eating.

Bella, used to the fiery Irishwoman's rigorous routines, was also used to having enough spare time to see her brother. As they poured over the timetable, Bella had noticed an absence of spare time in which she could drive up to Whistler to be with him or support him at the X-Games in Colorado. It left her unsettled, considering the fact that, besides Jazz, Emmett was her best friend and, despite the fourteen year age gap between them, they were insanely close.

The absence of spare time also drilled into her the fact that she really and truly was at the Olympics, the epitome of athletic competition. The butterflies in her stomach raged, threatening the digestion of her spinach and goat cheese pizza.

"Hey there, baby girl," Jazz intoned softly. Bella looked up at him and found his face fraught with concern. "What's going on up in that pretty little head of yours?"

Jasper watched as the tears formed in Bella's large doe brown eyes, and he opened his arms out to her. She launched hersf into his lap, arms around his neck and face buried into the crook of his neck. He closed his arms around her into a tight embrace. He could feel the tension in her small shoulders and he knew that her nerves were messing with her head. He was glad that at least one of them had experienced a competition of this caliber; he had placed fourth at the Turin Olympics four years prior, a feat that he was undoubtedly proud of since it had been his debut Olympic performance.

Though he and Bella had both participated in the US Championships and the Worlds, he- like every other professional athlete in the world- knew in his heart that the Olympics was the big kahuna of competitive sports. Jasper had no doubt that the weight of this fact was pressing heavily on his partner.

"Don't you worry about a thing, baby girl," Jasper soothed, running his hands up and down her back in an effort to calm her. "We practice, we'll medal at the US Champs, come back and medal here, too. You'll see."

Bella sniffed in response, wishing that she could be just a tenth as optimistic as the Texan whose lap she was perched upon.

"C'mon," Jazz said, moving his arms to underneath her butt and carrying her as he stood. "Let's get you to bed. The Irish Comandante has us for morning skate tomorrow."

The sky was white, so white in fact that he couldn't make out the tiny flakes of snow until they were mere centimeters from his face. It was pretty, though, Edward decided. Much better than the cliché blue or the omen inspiring grey.

"Cullen! You alright, man?" Edward heard Mike and the guys before he saw them. He was enjoying looking up at the sky until Mike, Tyler, and Alec's faces loomed above him.

"I'm fine," he replied, his throat protesting at the use of his voice. He rooted around in his parka pocket and unwrapped a Halls, popping it into his mouth before sitting up and waving his friends away.

"You sound like shit, dude," Tyler observed, plopping down onto the snow beside him. The other two followed suit.

"That was a totally unpretty beef," Alec commented, referring to the fall that had Edward staring up at the sky in the first place. "What happened?"

"I was trying to bone out an indy, but I saw a rabbit hole on my x-mark and I couldn't bail out in time."

"Cue the asspass and crater."

"Pretty much," Edward surmised with a chuckle, causing the guys to laugh with him.

"But you're okay, right?" Mike asked again.

"Yeah, I'm good." Edward jumped up, righting himself on his board. "But we ought to head back to the house. Looks like the squall's comin' in."

Edward pulled his goggles over his eyes and situated himself so that his right foot was leading him down the slope. He barely saw Alec flip him the bird- for going down goofy and showing off about it- before it was just him, the snow, and the trees again.

Feeling the burn in his arms and legs from the gimped indy, he decided to just skim his way down the mountain. Making wide, lazy zig zag trails through the snow, Edward felt at peace with the world. The pressure of the X-Games and the Olympics was forgotten, the annoyance of illness temporarily put on hold. It was a feeling that Edward relished, the very reason he was a snowboarder in the first place.

He came to a smooth stop at the bottom of the slope, waiting idly for the guys to join him. There weren't many others out this morning, probably fearing the possibility of getting caught in the impending whiteout. He spied some hard core fruit booters coming down the far side of the piste and shook his head with a laugh. He was lucky his face was turned when he felt the cold sting of snow spray hit his cheek.

"What the fuck, man!" he croaked; it was normally disrespect for a boarder to facemask a fellow boarder. Spray below the neck, it's all in good fun; above the neck means some serious shit is about to go down.

Wiping the caked on snow from the side of his face, Edward glared at the soon-to-be-dead prick. But before he could tell the bastard to drop trou, a familiar throaty feminine laugh floated to his ears.

"What's wrong, Cullen?" the betty in front of him giggled, her goggles resting on top of her head and her violet eyes dancing with mirth. "Popsicle stuck your tongue?"


	2. Winter, Wonder, & Scheduling Routine

******Disclaimer:** **Any and all publicly recognizable characters, settings, lyrics, writings, etc. are the property of their respective owners/creators**. Any and all original content is property of the author, who, in this case, happens to be me. In other words, I don't own Twilight, I just manipulate SM's characters into bastardized versions of themselves and I don't own pretty much anything else, either.

**Thanks to Charm, Megan, and Zi for their unending love and support!**

**

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**

**Chapter Two – White, Wonders, and Scheduling Routine**

The guys had witnessed it all as they were plunging down the slope towards Edward: the boarder coming out from a hidden piste, heading straight towards their buddy, and the facemask that had them all gasping. Mike even managed to wipeout due to the shock of it all.

Therefore, they were floored when, as they approached, they found Edward and the unknown boarder hugging!

"Rose, you raging, psychotic bitch!" Edward laughed as he pulled away from the hug and snapped her goggle strap against her ear.

"Sullen Cullen, you emotastic man whore, I've missed you," she replied, shoving one of her gloved knuckles into his kidneys. He feigned pain at the action, earning a playful raspberry from her.

Edward wasn't surprised in the sense that he was not expecting Rose; she, too, was an Olympiad and X-Game competetor and a year-round Vancouver resident. What did surprise him, though, was that she was in Whistler at the moment- normally she would already be in Aspen training on location for the X-Games.

Rosalie Hale was the premier female snowboarder, one of the most well-known athletes in all the sport. With her supermodel looks, haughty charm, and fearless approach to the slopes. Rose was famous far beyond the realm of slick halfpipes and snowy pistes. She and Edward shared many of the same sponsors, doing print and media ads together, and had become fast friends. She never took any of his bullshit and he treated her like one of the guys; it was a bond that surpassed the slopes.

"So where's Ali-cat and the 'rentals?" Rose asked, wiping the last remaining traces of snow off of Edward's face.

"They'll be up by tomorrow. What are you still doing up here? Shouldn't you be in Colorado by now?" Edward ignored the gaping stares he was getting from the guys; very few knew of the close relationship between Rose and himself.

"I should, I know," she replied, sliding herself towards the ski lodge. Edward followed, but not before giving the guys the universal male head nod for 'go on without me, I'll catch up to you later.' "I'm going down next week."

"What, are you getting soft on me, Hale?" Edward teased, earning a mock glare from the silver-blonde beauty.

"Shut your trap, Cullen. I can still work a box rail better than you can. And I've got tits, so extra points to me." The two of them unbuckled themselves from their boards and headed into the lodge. "No, Vera just had a baby boy earlier this week, and it's been my duty as auntie extrordinare to stick around."

Edward's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Last time he had seen Rosalie's younger sister Vera was at her wedding last year. Had it really been that long since he'd hung out with Rose? "Tell Vera and Marcel congratulations for me, then."

"Will do. So when are you going down to Aspen?"

"Next week, maybe. It's Alice's first X Games, so she was to go early and get a feel for their tracks."

Rose shook her head. "It's her second Olympiad yet her first X-Games. Honey's done it backwards, huh." Edward laughed. "Well, then, we should all go down together."

They lounged together comfortably in the lodge for a little while, Edward sipping on tea while Rose drank hot chocolate. After exhausting conventional conversation, their dialogue turned to their upcoming competitions.

"Heard that Emmett McCarty's competing for the US team for the fourth year," Edward commented, thinking back to what he had read in the newspapers a few months ago. "They say he's looking for his fourth set of medals."

"Damn, his fourth Olympics?" Rose whistled, one eyebrow quirked. "He's got to be at least thirty, then!"

"Thirty two, if I'm not mistaken."

"Wow. And he's still boarding pro."

"The man is second only to Shaun White. Better, since he's an Olympic medaler."

"And he's doing the X-Games again this year, too?"

Edward nodded. He hadn't had much interaction with McCarty over the years. Partly because he didn't endorse regular snow gear companies like West 49 or Burton- he belonged to a family owned chain called Swan Song Gear Co.- and partly because he was a very private individual, doing as few interviews and publicity as possible. Also, Edward never had the nerve to approach him at competitions because he was always a little starstruck: he had posters of this man up on his walls until now.

Rose knew of Edward's fan-crush and decided to tease him. "Maybe this year you'll actually talk to him! Or, if you medal out over him, he'll actually come and talk to you!"

Glaring at his friend, Edward flipped her off. "Yeah, right. I'm good, but I'm not _that_ good."

---

The next morning, Bella awoke to the sweet smell of hot chocolate and a warm body. Burrowing her head into her warmer than normal pillow, she let out a sigh of contentment. Her pillow chuckled, sending her head bouncing with the movement.

"That tickles, darlin'."

Realizing that her pillow was in fact Jasper's abdomen, she nuzzled her nose into his side again, illiciting another round of soft baritone giggles. She felt one of his arms fit itself around her and his fingers began prodding her in the side.

"C'mon, baby girl, up you get. Maggie is gonna be waiting for us and I brought you hot cocoa in bed."

Peeking up with one eye, Bella grinned at the sandy blonde sitting on top of her duvet. He picked up a mug from the bedside table and held it aloft, just out of her reach. Groaning good naturedly, Bella sat up and took the mug, happily sighing as she sipped.

"Morning," she said finally, smiling serenely at Jasper. She must've looked a fright, she thought, but it didn't matter; Jazz had seen her in worse.

"Good morning, doll," he replied, laying a kiss on her forehead. "C'mon, I've got your favorite."

The two of them crawled out of her bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Bella could hear her brother's elephantine snores as they passed his room and supressed a laugh. _That is why he doesn't have a girlfriend_, she mused.

Downstairs, the aroma of fresh baked goods greeted her, and she made a beeline for the large platter sitting atop the breakfast bar.

"Cherry cheese danish!" she exclaimed happily, plopping down on a stool and grabbing a gigantic pastry. Biting into it, she moaned at the wonderfully mouthwatering taste. She turned to Jasper with her mouth still full and garbled out a 'thank you.'

After a quick light breakfast and clean up, Jasper drove them to the nearby arena where Maggie had reserved them some ice time to practice. The world was blanketed in white, a sudden blizzard passing through overnight leaving everything under a cover of pristine whiteness.

The routine of morning skate was familiar to them both no matter where in the world they were, so once they were at the arena they were on the ice within minutes of stretching.

"Alright, short program dance," Maggie called from the sidelines after they had done the compulsory warm up laps around the rink. "Bella, you first."

Skating to the side, Bella picked up the two different cordless ear buds from her coach. The black one was a communicator, so Bella could hear anything Maggie might want to tell her while she was on the ice; the blue one was connected to her iPod and would pipe music into her other ear. She secured the ear buds with her ear muffs and skated to her start position in the middle of the rink.

"Ready, cailín?" Bella heard Maggie say in her ear. She gave a nod and the beep signifying the beginning of her track warned her that she was about to begin. Bizet's 'Song of The Toreador' began to play and Bella began to skate.

Starting off with some backwards skating footwork interspersed with two bracket turns and a twizzle, Bella let the music guide her into her turns and her first set of combination jumps. Landing a lutz jump and segueing it into a camel spin she missed a beat, entering into her catch foot layover spin too late.

"Keep going, cailín," Maggie encouraged, reminding Bella not to get distracted by her mistake. "Don't complete the spin rotation, just keep going with the next two figures and the three turns."

Following the instructions she was given, Bella proceeded to complete her dance flawlessly. She skated to the side, a pouted frown adorning her face.

"What did I do wrong?"

Jasper joined her on the ice and helped her work out the problem, demonstrating to her that she was accidentally adding a half rotation to her jump, a mistake she had made when first learning the routine. Quickly drilling it out of her, Bella performed the routine again flawlessly and skated off the ice, allowing Jasper to practice one of his routines. They each went through their individual skates then the compulsory pairs and ice dance songs, tweaking and perfecting bits and pieces as they went.

"Alright, I want to see you do your free skate dance," Maggie prompted them.

Bella and Jasper grinned widely at each other as they skated to center ice together. Jasper opened his arms to his partner and Bella fitted herself in his loose embrace. Once situated, he laid his head on her shoulder, kissing her neck lightly as the beep sounded in their ears. She reciprocated with a gentle kiss in his hair just as the strummed strains of Oasis' 'Wonderwall' began to play.

They skated in perfect sync, and Maggie watched them with a mixture of pride and envy. Together they were flawless, the two sharing a bond so deep that even the most complicated of throws and lifts were exhibited immaculately by the two of them. And the music, which had been Jasper's suggestion, suited the two of them perfectly. She never knew the extent of their personal relationship- it was always a matter that Jasper and Bella kept private and between the two of them- but it was obvious that this song held some sort of meaning to them.

Maggie paid special attention as her skaters prepared for their most complicated set of combinations yet- a crouching curve lift with Bella in a full layback position followed by Jasper tossing his partner into a tuck flip and catching her in a straight lift and ending with a set of twizzle spins and two quick overlapped figure eights. This was stuff that belonged in the circus, not the ice, but complex maneuvres were specialities of this pair.

Not to say that both didn't earn their fair share of injuries experimenting on the ice. Enough blood, sweat, and tears had been shed on the ice they shared, sprains and broken bones and pulled muscles the prices paid in the quest for flair and perfection. When executing this move early on once, Bella had actually managed to slice Jasper's cheek open with her skate blade. Jasper's body was covered in scars from practicing their daredevil tricks on the ice, but he never begruded Bella, wearing the scars like badges of honor.

Both skaters grinned as they heard Maggie exhale a breath she probably didn't realize she was holding. The combination had been executed perfectly, and they were on to some footwork and a few more minor combinations as the song wound down.

Letting out a whoop as the song finished and they skated into their final positions, Jasper carried Bella over his shoulder in a small victory dance, Bella laughing wildly as he twirled eccentrically on the ice.

"We do that on medal night, baby girl, and we're golden!" he hooted, setting the petite brunette down on the ice and catching her in a tight embrace.

Watching the prideful smile on Jazz's face, Bella felt like she could actually believe it.

---

Wearing his thermals, snow pants, toque, goggles, and a Team Canada hoodie, Edward felt like a king surveying his kingdom as he stood at the top of the mountain slope. It was barely five in the morning but he couldn't wait- the lure of the freshie pow on a blue bird day like this was too much, and he wanted to claim the mountain as his, carve the first trails into her side and tell the world that he was her conqueror.

The whiteout the night prior had petered out during the wee hours of morning, and Edward awoke when the howling winds had quieted, his body already anticipating the pristine white. Thankfully, his bodily aches were gone and the pain in his chest and throated had lessened into a bearable cough, due mostly to the afternoon and evening spent heavily medicating with soup, tea, and bottles of Vicks Vap-O-Rub and Buckley's.

Cueing his iPod to play his favourite track for times like this, he smiled as he pulled his goggles down over his eyes and hellogoodbye's 'Here (In Your Arms)' track sang into his ears. He weaved down the trail to the beat of the music, loving the serenity of the empty mountain combined with the upbeat techno-pop track.

The snowy mountain was his one true lover, accepting him with open arms and letting him be whoever he wanted to be without asking any questions. The wind whipping past him was her whispered words of love and longing, the snow her sign of gentle submission. Edward was convinced that he would never find a woman as loving as a fresh mountain slope.

He reached the bottom of the mountain several cycles of the song later and the sun was just starting to peek out from the morning winter clouds. The gondola lift wasn't operating yet so he jellybeaned it back up the mountain, telling himself that it was good exercise to motivate him. After making it a ways up, he decided he'd board back down, testing some of the naturally occurring jumps on the way.

As he cruised down on the snow, he spied a large ledge, probably a snow covered boulder. Heading towards it, he determined it to be the perfect height for an aerial 5 with a backflip kick.

The feeling as he soared and manipulated his body through the air was indescribible- thrilling and exhilarating and all the different words that could ever describe the way his blood was pumping furiously through his veins. He grinned, glad that he had executed his jump flawlessly, and proceeded triumphantly down the mountain.

As he came nearer to the end of the pass, he saw a large dark mass. Seconds and yards passed and he realized that it wasn't a singular entity but three separate people: his parents and sister. Grinning devilishly, he made a beeline for Alice, intent on feignting to piss her off.

Pushing his weight on his lead foot which increased his speed, Edward barrelled towards Alice. It was a game of chicken that they were both familiar with, and he could sense the determination in her stance. Closer and closer, he mentally calculated just where he'd have to shift his weight in order to skid to a stop right at her toes.

At six inches away, he saw his sister jump behind their father and he slowed to a stop in the place she had just been standing. His Cheshire grin as he pulled his goggles off his face annoyed Alice enough that she jumped on his board and began pummelling his torso and shoulders.

"You ass!" she cried as he laughed at her. Their parents watched on in amusement. "It's way too early for your shit, you know! We've been up since the ass crack of dawn and this is the kind of greeting I get? Just you wait, one of these days you're going to wake up with a pound of raw tripe instead of a pillow and--"

Pulling her into a hug- mostly to stop her from causing him any real bodily harm- Edward shouted out a, 'Hey, Elph,' before muffling her face into his chest. She quieted and hugged him back fiercely.

"I don't know why you two insist on goading each other like that," Esme sighed as she watched the playfully violent display from her children. She stepped towards her son and pulled his head down to kiss his temple.

"Hey, Ma," he replied, smiling impishly after kissing her cheek.

"You could've made that five a seven and still made the backflip kick."

Edward turned and saw the small binoculars in his father's hand. The older blonde man smiled kindly at his son, relaying that his criticism was more constructive than abrasive, and they proceeded to hug in greeting.

"You think so?" Edward asked, unstrapping himself from his board. "I didn't think I had enough air or clearance."

"Start your header further up and push on your lead heel. You'll get bigger air that way. And try a backflip kick with an indy breaker."

"But that would be kinda ginch to bone out, don't you think?"

"Not if you give yourself enough air."

Shouldering his board, Edward nodded and began to map out the move logistically in his head.

"C'mon," Esme chided, herding them towards the parking lot. "No more shop talk. Let's hit Ingrid's for breakfast."

---

"Okay, we have the Nationals in Spokane: it's a six hour drive, give or take, and we're there for three weeks. I've already reserved us ice time at various arenas. We leave on Thursday. Then after the ladies' competition weekend, we'll fly down to Aspen. I've called ahead and reserved us some ice time at rinks there, too, but I need to talk to Emmett and Sam to get his competition schedule and work in practices around that. We have the hotel suites and car rentals in Spokane booked, so that's no problem; we can just stay in the Aspen house, but we need to rent another car while we're there. Once the X Games are over the seven of us will fly back to Vancouver. The three of us move into the Village, Sam and Emmett move on to the Village in Whistler, Renée will be at the house here and Charlie will be at the Whistler cabin. Any complaints?"

Bella fought the urge to salute her coach, her speech sounding more like a military debriefing than anything else. Instead, she nodded.

"Maggie, thank you so much for doing this for me," she gushed. Jasper squeezed her hand under the table. "For us," she amended.

"Don't thank me just yet, páiste," the Irish Comandante warned. "You'll be cursin' me back to Baile Átha Cliath soon enough. I've got you on rigorous training to make up for all the travellin' time."

Bella didn't care that Maggie probably would have them sweating like dogs; she had worked out a way for her to see Em compete at the X Games. Only the most dire of circumstances had ever kept her away from her brother's competitions and vice versa. It would be strange enough not to watch him this year at the Olympics, so having this concedence comforted her a bit.

The three of them were eating a late breakfast at a Tim Hortons before heading to the gym for a workout and swim practice. Maggie pulled out a folder and handed them each a piece of paper- a calendar detailing their schedule for the upcoming month. Not a day was spared, even Sundays had them doing some casual hours at a rink.

"Still want to thank me, cailín?" a wry smirk played on her freckled face as she watched her two ice prodigies read their schedules.

Jasper laughed. "Don't sweat it, Mags. We know you've got our best at heart."

They discussed the routines that would be performed in Spokane while they ate. As they spoke, they also briefly touched upon the upcoming Worlds in March.

"We'll need to figure out what routines to do for that," Maggie mused. "Have you two worked out that new contemporary free skate routine yet?"

"Which one?" Bella asked as she mentally scrolled through her performance playlist in her head.

"It's that catchy tune that starts out with the quick piano and your double axel with the figure footwork."

Jasper shook his head. "Not yet, no. But we could probably have it finished and perfected in time for the Worlds."

"Good. Keep that in mind. Now let's go. I want you two to concentrate on lifts today- Jazz, your arms still look a little shaky by the second to last set of lifts- so in the pool first thing when we hit the gym."

---

Ingrid's Village Café in the heart of Whistler Village was a Cullen family favorite; proof enough of that was the fact that they were all greeted warmly and by name when they entered.

"Excited for your first X Games, Elph?" Edward asked as they lounged over breakfast. He nursed a hot tea, still wary of any residual sick that might have been lingering in his system.

"Sort of. I mean, this is totally different shit than Nordic ski competition."

"Alice! Language!"

"Sorry, Mom." Edward snorted and Alice kicked him under the table. "Anyhow, SlopeStyle looks like it could be hella awesome, but I'm totally psyched for the Olympic aerial ski. I mean, damn, it took them long enough to add it to the event roster, right?"

"Well, you're going to need to pace yourself, Alice," Carlisle warned. Looking at both his children sternly, he continued. "I've emailed you the practice schedule. No dicking around, got it? We have back country runs in the morning, pipe training and gym time in the early afternoons then finishing off with slopes and trails. No drinking, partying, or jackassery of any kind."

The two nodded. Edward grabbed his iPhone off the table and messaged the guys to get their asses out of the house and to the cabin across town. After sending the text, he saw the satisfied look on his father's face.

"Good. Now, both of you need to work on your height values..."


	3. Lessons In Deceiving Appearances

******Disclaimer:** **Any and all publicly recognizable characters, settings, lyrics, writings, etc. are the property of their respective owners/creators**. Any and all original content is property of the author, who, in this case, happens to be me. In other words, I don't own Twilight, I just manipulate SM's characters into bastardized versions of themselves and I don't own pretty much anything else, either.

**Thanks to Charm, Megan, and Zi for their unending love and support!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 3 - Lessons in Deceiving Appearances**

Emmett wiped the sweat off his brow and headed towards the change rooms for a shower. Exhausted from his training schedule, he decided to stay off the slopes for the rest of the day and just hang out. He'd been trying to reacquaint himself with the lay of the land for the past few days, and it wasn't until his coach Sam reminded him that he'd be up at Mt. Spokane in a week that he realized to train so hard now would be futile.

Just as he took a step towards the showers, he heard his phone ring from his locker. From the sound of the ringer, it was Charlie.

"Hey, Dad," he answered after retrieving his Blackberry from the depths of his gym bag.

"Hey, Em. Just calling to see how things are."

Emmett could hear the store in the background, so he knew Charlie was most likely calling to confirm all the travel plans.

"Things are good. There's snow, there're slopes, I'm happy. What's up with you and Mom?"

"Not much. Store's good. Billy and Harry are gonna run the place while we're with you kids."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "As usual."

"Yeah, yeah, can the snark, kid." Charlie laughed. "How's your sister and Jasper?"

"They're good. I left them with Maggie in Vancouver earlier this week, and they were already in Spokane this morning when I called. Mags tell you she managed out all our schedules so Bells and Jazz could come out to Aspen?"

"Yeah, we got the email. Personally, I don't think it's such a good idea, though."

Though the concern in his father's voice was genuine, Emmett couldn't help but feel a pang of resentment. He and his sister and Jasper never missed one another's competitions if it could be helped, and damn it in hell if that was going to stop now. He knew it was really juvenile-and it made it glaringly obvious that he was much, much older than his baby sister- but he couldn't help himself.

"Dad, she wants to go. Jazz wants to go. I want them to be there." Emmett made sure his tone was one of finality. "They can handle it. And there are rinks in Aspen, we know that. They can still keep practicing and-"

"You're not budging on this, are you, Em." It was more a statement of fact than a question.

"No."

"Em, they need to concentrate on the US Champs to secure their Olympic team spot. They can't do that while Bella's worrying or wondering about you."

"Dad, look... you and I know that Bells and Jazz are a shoe-in for the Olympic team. Because of the last few Championships, they don't even have to medal this year, just place, and they're still guaranteed a spot on the Vancouver team. And you and I also know she'll be worse off if she doesn't have her creature comforts."

"And said comforts would be you."

"Yep," Emmett replied, grinning proudly, even though he knew his father couldn't see it. "Dad, we'll be fine, okay? Now, am I meeting up with you guys at the hotel in Spokane?"

After finalizing travel plans with his father, he shot a quick text to his sister, warning her that Renée was going to call. Laughing at the predictability of his parents, he managed to hop into the showers.

Edward dressed slowly, building up his courage. He hadn't seen Emmett McCarty while he was working out but there he was, sitting on the locker room bench, talking on the phone when he had gotten out of the shower. Determined to talk to the man and end his stupid mancrush, Edward thought up things to say to try to impress the man.

Ten minutes later, Edward was slowly re-lacing his Elwood skate shoes, and Emmett was walking out of the showers. Surprisingly, the other man set his things on the spot beside Edward as he began to get dressed.

"Hey," Edward heard. He looked up, training his expression to one of casual curiosity, and nodded. "You're Edward Cullen, right?"

"Yeah," Edward replied, sticking his foot into his shoe and offering his hand out for a handshake. "Emmett McCarty?"

The behemoth man nodded, shaking his hand, and Edward was squealing like a little girl on the inside.

"I remember you pulled that gutsy shit at last year's Alpine NorAm Cup," Emmett said, pulling on an undershirt then a t-shirt. "Good stuff, man."

Edward beamed. He had tried out a 1080 indy with a double backflip goofy sidewind and had succeeded- just barely landing properly and not breaking his neck. It had become one of his signature move since.

"Thanks. Still doesn't live up to your double breaker sidewind with the combination alpine 5 reverse handflip." _A move that had me in a wrist splint for four weeks a few years back_, he added silently.

Emmett let out a booming laugh. "Yeah, the reverse tricks and hand tricks are hard enough without combining them. Hope you didn't kill yourself trying them out."

The two walked out of the change rooms chatting idly about different tricks of the trade when Edward saw a flash of silver-blonde before he was staring at the harsh florescents from his back on the floor.

"Sullen Cullen, are you speaking to whom I think you're speaking to?" a female voice practically sang. The evil grin on Rose's face as she straddled him had Edward wanting to throttle her.

"Shut up, Rose," he spat through gritted teeth. Glancing at Emmett, he saw that the man had an amused look on his face.

"You okay, Cullen?"

"Uh, yeah." In a move that even impressed himself, Edward stood while still supporting Rosalie. He deposited her on the floor in front of him and gestured with his hands. "Rose, this is Emmett McCarty. Emmett, Rosalie Hale."

The way Emmett and Rose stared at each other had Edward suddenly feeling like he was in an episode of Animal Planet.

_'And here we witness the mating habits of the species Snowjockus athleticus. Note how both the male and female jut their chests out: the male as a sign of his size and masculinity, the female to show off her bosom and accentuate the rest of the curves of her body.'_

Edward shook the Jacques Cousteau-esque voice from his head with a grin. Then an idea struck him.

"Hey, Emmett, man, Rose and I were just heading over to my place for dinner. If you're not doing anything you should join us."

Slowly peeling his eyes away from the blonde bombshell in front of him, Emmett cast an incredulous look at the auburn haired guy standing next to him. Seriously, did the dude just invite him to crash his dinner with his girlfriend?

Emmett obviously knew who Rosalie Hale was; he just wrote her off as a snow bunny- fuckawesome moves on a superpipe and a pretty face to boot. He never imagined that there could be more. But when he looked at her, actually looked past the beauty and blonde, there was an instant attraction that he had never felt before. It was something that he wanted to explore.

But fuck his luck, she and Cullen were an item.

"Yeah, you should come," Rose said to him, the tenor of her voice alluding to something entirely different than dinner.

How could he say no after an offer like that?

Landing her final tuck axel and straightening out into a single rotation camel spin and mohawk turn, Bella smiled. As a test, Maggie liked to have her do her routines sans music, and Bella knew that she had performed flawlessly. Seeing the wide smiles on both Jasper and their coach's faces cemented her feeling.

"Amazing, darlin'!" Jasper cried, scooping her up into his arms. "Your timing was flawless, and that was the cleanest triple salchow I've ever seen!"

"I've finally got a good feeling about this, Jazzy," Bella told him softly as he perched her on the wooden sideboard of the ice rink and stood between her knees.

"Good. I was waitin' on you." His accompanying wink caused her to blush and giggle. Noticing someone approaching them from the other side of the rink, Jasper gripped Bella's thighs a little tighter. "Don't look now, but I think that skeeze bag from the USOC is here."

Thinking back to all their interactons with Team USA officials, both Bella and Maggie could only think of one recruiter who acted especially inappropriate towards Bella, and that was Kevin Frayne. He had made several perverted passes at Bella while speaking to her at last year's US Championships. Bella had ended up in tears after he left, and both Jasper and Emmett had to be restrained from going after the assbag.

"I'll deal with him," Maggie muttered. She silently regretted not reporting him to the committee last year when she had the chance. "You two pack up and go on ahead to the hotel."

Jasper swiftly unlaced Bella from her skates and placed her on the rubber mat beside her Uggs. She shoved them on and grabbed her duffle, taking Jazz's outstretched hand and letting him lead her out of the arena. Just the memory of all the disgusting things that 'official' had said to her last year was enough to make her feel naseous.

Settling into the rented Lincoln Navigator, Jasper looked over at the girl beside him. He took a hold of her hand and stroked her palm soothingly.

"You alright, baby?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah. Just remembering last year..."

She shuddered and shut her eyes. Taking a deep breath and summoning all her inner strength, she opened them again and smiled at her best friend.

"C'mon. Get us back to the hotel. I'm in the mood for room service and bad TV."

He nodded and started the car, hearing a familiar chime. "Babe, I think you've got a text."

She rooted around her bag and emerged with her iPhone in hand. Reading the screen, it listed one text from her brother and four missed calls from her mom.

"I think Em was warning us that the parents were calling," she said, showing him the screen when he stopped at a red light.

Sure enough, when she read Emmett's message ('_Ch. called; R comin ur way_') she was instantly thankful for the warning. Dialing her Renée's cell, Bella put the call on speaker and placed the phone on the dash.

"Bellaboo!"

Rolling her eyes as the childhood monicker, Bella intentionally ignored it. "Hey, Mom. You were calling?"

"Just checking up on my babies," Renée replied happily. "How are you and Jazzy-pie?"

She had to stifle a giggle at the face Jasper was making. "We're good. Just finished practice, and we're heading back to the hotel now. When are you and Dad getting here?"

"We'll be there by Tuesday afternoon, and Em said he's flying in Tuesday evening."

"You talked to Em already?" Bella asked, feigning ignorance and channelling innocence. She figured all the scheduling conflicts she had caused would go over smoother if she played the 'innocent baby sister' card. "I didn't know he was coming Tuesday."

"Really? Oh, don't worry, honey. Your bother is definitely going to be there." It didn't even register to Renee that she was being played. "The five of us will go out for family dinner after we pick him up from Spokane International, okay?"

Only feeling slightly guilty, Bella agreed. They chatted a little while longer before ending the call just as Jasper pulled into the hotel's underground parking. They walked hand in hand into the nearest open elevator, and she hit the button for the thirty second floor.

Emmett rang the doorbell as he shuffled nervously on the porch. What the fuck was he doing? He couldn't answer that question without confusing himself, so he kept his mind busy with mental images of Rosalie. Rosalie jumping Cullen at the lodge gym, Rosalie straddling the bastard on the floor...

The images morphed from reality to fantasy. Rosalie straddling him, Rosalie's long, lithe body covering his own, nak--

The door flew open and Edward stood there with a slight grin of his face.

"Hey, Emmett. Come on in."

"Hey. Nice place you've got here." Emmett must not have seen the house properly because from the outside, the place looked just a little larger than your typical log cabin. But he was standing in a room that was nothing short of a grand foyer. "It's, uh, big."

Edward let out a chuckle, watching his idol's face transform in awe. "Yeah. It looks small from the front, but that's just because the house is actually built partially into the mountain. C'mon, I'll give you the grand tour."

The two of them walked through the house as Edward pointed out rooms and stairwells. They made their way through to the back of the house, and Emmett was floored to see that the dining room view was astounding. The whole wall, floor to ceiling, was made of glass! And it was made all the more breathtaking by the stunning blonde standing by one of the closed French doors.

Rose could feel him long before she saw him. Even before he had rung the doorbell, she knew that Emmett had arrived. It was like some sort of scale, and his proximity was balancing out every other aspect of her being. She wanted to kill Edward for taking him on what felt to be the world's longest house tour. The waiting and anticipation was torture.

After leaving the lodge and climbing into Edward's Volvo SUV, Rose let out a breath she wasn't even aware she had been holding. As she sighed and sunk into the soft velour of the passenger seat, Edward had practically popped a lung laughing at her. His idiotic guffaws were interspersed with some sort of bad French accented imitation that she couldn't understand.

"What the fuck is so funny, Cullen?!" she screamed, pouting and wondering what that imbecilic French accent had to do with anything.

"It was like watching the Discovery Channel!" he gasped out. Coughing, he switched his voice to the bad accent. "Watch az zee female snowjockus athleticus bats her eyelashez at zee male, followed by zee hair fleep. Zat is a sign zat she iz prepared to mount him in--"

"Damn it, Edward!" she cried, punching him in the shoulder as she cut him off. "Seriously, was it that obvious?"

"Again, I'm fucking suprised that you two didn't fuckin' throw down and make a couple of snow bunnies right then and there!"

Waiting now in the dining room as she talked idly with Alice was torture, especially knowing that he was so close, yet certainly not close enough.

"Emmett, you already know Rose. This is my sister, Alice. Alpine ski."

Emmett shook the tiny pixie girl's hand, almost afraid that the miniature fingers would break under his own. He never thought he'd find someone smaller than his sister, but he was wrong. Alice Cullen was petite's version of petite: probably not breaking past five foot with little cute elfin features. He wanted to stick her in red and white lederhosen and a white fur trimmed hat and tell her to go back to Santa's workshop.

"Hey, Emmett. I'm a big fan." Alice appraised the bear of a man carefully. Something inside her--her gut some would say--told her to be welcoming of this man, and that he would be more than just a passing acquaintance. But her gut also told her to be slightly wary, that the baggage this man was carrying would be more than just a 3x2x2 wheelie case.

"Thanks," came the reply. Polite and guarded smiles were exchanged, and Emmett gave a little wave to Rose in greeting.

Edward disappeared for a moment and reappeared with drinks for them all- vodka coolers for the ladies, beer for the men.

"Mom said dinner would be ready in about five minutes."

Emmett, relieved that he was not crashing some intimate dinner, relaxed further. Parents. There were parents here. Therefore no overt... hanky panky could be played by Cullen and Rosalie.

"Babe, you think Em's out on the slopes right now?

"I don't think so, baby girl. Give him a call."

Bella laid on her stomach across Jasper's legs, playing a game on her iPhone as he watched 'The Langoliers' on television. They had done nothing all evening except lounge in their room, and Bella was starting to go a little stir crazy. The remains of their room service feast- gourmet burgers and fries- littered one corner of their room, and she was sated physically, but something inside her longed to be fulfilled. She just didn't know exactly what it was.

Quickly deciding that a call to Emmett wouldn't hurt, she scrolled through her contacts list and engaged the call. Listening to the screams coming from the television as the phone rang in her ear, Bella flopped over and looked up at Jasper.

"Isn't this the movie that gave you nightmares?"

Without taking his eyes off the HDTV screen, he replied. "No. That was 'The Princess Bride'. You were the one who had night terrors for two weeks after watching this. Remember, giant space clams devouring the world?"

Bella let out a shudder as he chuckled above her. One of his large hands began finger combing through her hair, stopping the memories of how much she truly hated the movie.

"Hey, Boo." Emmett's voice reminded her that she was on the phone.

"Hey, Metty. Tuesday?"

"Yep. I'll be there Tuesday." She could hear people in the background.

"Good. I hear people," she stated. Jasper snickered something that sounded like, 'How astute of you, darlin',' and she rocketed her elbow into his stomach. He mock-vomited, using his hands to mime projectile puke over her face.

"Are they dead?" her brother chuckled. She groaned. "Nah, I met some people. Remember Edward Cullen?"

The name sounded familiar. "Not really, but I'm sure you'll remind me."

"The kid Step-On called 'The Next Emmett McCarty' a few months ago."

"Ohhhh!" Yes, Bella remembered him. The magazine had done a whole pictorial to accompany the article, and Bella had housed a slight crush on him ever since. He was quite good looking, and Jazz teased her ceaselessly for weeks after he found a picture under her pillow. She blushed slightly. "Okay, I know who you're talking about."

"Yeah, so he invited me to have dinner with his family and girlfriend."

Before Bella could reply, she heard some sort of uproar followed by several different voices laughing. Emmett was stammering like an idiot, and she actually pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it, quite confounded, for a moment.

Jasper couldn't help but let out a snort and a chuckle at the expression on her face, especially when he heard a rushed, "I'll call you later, Boo," come from Emmett just before the call was abruptly terminated.

"What the hell was that about?" she muttered, staring at her phone a beat longer before tossing it aside on the bedspread. "Jazz, let's go do something. I'm bored."

"What d'you feel like doing, doll?"

Bella pouted. "I don't know."

"Going stir crazy again, huh." Jasper was all too familiar with Bella's moods. It never failed that around competition time, all her nervous energy would compound and leave her itching for a way to release it. Over the years the two of them had experimented with everything from paintball to sex as venues for her need to physically channel her emotional need. Sex was a last resort- when everything else hadn't properly sated her metaphorical twitch- and Jasper wouldn't go there unless she suggested it first.

It wasn't like she'd ever ask him point blank, "Do you wanna do it?" No, Bella was a little too shy for such forthright means. But she always had her coy, blush-ridden way of looking at him that had him hard in an instant. Her huge brown eyes would be hooded in lust, her wild mahogany hair would be cascading around her face and down her shoulders- horny Bella was sexy enough to put Venus riding naked in a clam shell to shame.

"Laser tag," he blurted out, trying to stop the deluge of naughty thoughts and mental images before it resulted them in not leaving the hotel room at all. "I saw an all-night laser tag place on out way to the rink earlier!"

Bella bit back a laugh because it was obvious- to her, at least- the direction in which her best friend's mind was going. If the faraway look in his eye and the telltale buldge in his jeans wasn't enough, the high pitched squeak of his exclamation was the sure icing on the proverbial cake. She sat up slowly, routine pink staining her cheeks.

"Awesome. Laser tag it is."

As they readied themselves, Bella wondered just how she was lucky enough to end up having a best friend as great at Jasper. And they were the epitome of best friends, in the truest sense of the phrase: they could share everything from a conversation to a bed without the pressures of anything else outside of them. There were no jealousies, never any true miscommunications; they knew each other too well and loved each other wholly for any of that bullshit to matter.

The drive to the laser tag arena had Bella practically vibrating in her seat. The need to expend her excess energy was dire, her constantly bouncing knee proof of that. Just as they neared the lot, Bella's phone rang out the 'Stormtrooper's March' from 'Star Wars'.

"Hiya, Mags!" Bella answered, putting the call on speaker. Jasper just shook his head ruefully at her chipper demeanor.

"Paint ball or indoor rock climbing?" was the only response, and the question was directed at Jasper. Maggie knew all about Bella's idiosyncratic tendencies.

"Laser tag," he replied as Bella stuck her tongue out to the phone. "They have a roller disco at the place, too, so I might manage to get her exhausted enough to sleep tonight."

"Good. We have rink time at five tomorrow morning, and I don't need her zombie-ing on ice."

"Hey, I'm right here, you know!" Bella exclaimed, waving her phone in front of her for emphasis.

"And we love you for it, páiste," Maggie teased with a laugh. "Now go kick that boy's ass in laser tag."

"So you two aren't...?"

"Not for lack of trying on my mother's part," Edward replied. Laughter followed this comment, along with an appropriately abashed expression on Esme's face.

"I can't help it. I'm a mother; it's what we do!"

Emmett laughed heartily, knowing just how true that statement was. "Sorry for the assumption, then."

The uproar following Emmett's innocent comment on the phone was comical. Rose had choked on her Smirnoff Ice, Edward on his beer, and Alice, Carlisle, and Esme had burst out in laughter.

"It's alright, man," Edward told him. Angling the neck of his beer bottle at him, he continued. "So who was that, the girlfriend?"

Rose, mentally reminding herself to buy Cullen something big and pretty, waited with bated breath for his response. Even though she was pretty sure that the 'boo'- as Emmett so easily greeted on the phone- was his girlfriend, she learned immediately what happened when one cast assumptions. She had surmised that the reason he had yet to make a move was because he thought she was with Edward. As if! The Cullens were some of her closest friends, although she and Edward rarely saw each other outside of competitions as of late.

Emmett was slightly stunned at the question he was faced with. Had he really sounded like he was talking to a girlfriend? He let out an internal sigh, knowing that this was the price paid for not letting people too emotionally attached. Yeah, he'd had friends and girlfriends, but none had ever come close enough to meeting his sister. Bella was the most important thing in his life, and he'd never let anyone get too close just so they could fuck up and leave.

"No, there is no girlfriend, actually," he replied quickly. He did a little happy dance in his head when he saw the look of relief relax Rosalie's face. "That was my little sister, Bella."

"You have a sister?" Carlisle asked, obviously quite surprised. Over the course of dinner and the post-meal hanging out, Emmett had gotten the clear impression that this man was not easily taken aback.

"Yup. Fourteen years younger. We're really close, but our family's really kind of private." He didn't know why, but he felt at ease talking about his family with these people. Maybe it was because they were a sports family as well, they would understand things easily. Whatever it was, the squicky, violation-of-privacy feeling he normally got when the topic of his family- especially Bella- was brought up didn't plague him as per usual.

"Wow, that's some feat that you've managed to retain a certain modicum of privacy considering your level of exposure," Carlisle pointed out. He was truly impressed; of all the things he had ever read and heard of Emmett McCarty, only the allusion of a family in his hometown in Washington was mentioned.

"Yeah, nothing short of a miracle, really."

"Bella..." Alice mused. When her name was said, it triggered something familiar in her head. It took a moment but then the lightbulb lit. "Bella Swan? The big time figure skater?"

Looking at her with wide eyes, Emmett nodded. "Uh, yeah. How'd you know?"

"TMZ," she replied, laughing slightly at the expression on his face. "You two were at the airport together earlier this week, and all the gossip rags are raging about this huge torrid love triangle between you two and her skating partner."

It was now Emmett's turn to laugh. "Is that what they're sayin' now? Man, that's unbelievable!"

The rest of the evening passed companionably, a little less exciting but more comfortable- for Rose and Emmett especially- than it had began.


	4. That's What Friends Are For

******Disclaimer:** **Any and all publicly recognizable characters, settings, lyrics, writings, etc. are the property of their respective owners/creators**. Any and all original content is property of the author, who, in this case, happens to be me. In other words, I don't own Twilight, I just manipulate SM's characters into bastardized versions of themselves and I don't own pretty much anything else, either.

**Thanks to Charm, Megan, and Zi for their unending love and support!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4 - That's What Friends Are For**

"Jazz... Oh, babe, please..."

Picking her up from the spot in which she stood in front of him, Jasper quickly strode over to their bed and placed Bella in the middle. Her legs, which had wound themselves around his waist in the process, did not lessen their hold and neither did her fingers in his hair. She tugged lightly, her short nails scratching lightly into his scalp, and he couldn't help but moan into her mouth. She knew exactly what drove him mad with desire and she was pulling out all the stops tonight.

One of his hands left its place on her waist and traveled up, skimming her tight abdomen, past her ribcage, and up the side swell of her breast. His feather light touches teased her as she tried to angle her body in such a way that she would gain more contact, more friction.

"Babe... Need more... Please," she begged, tugging his bottom lip with her teeth for emphasis. Her hands left his hair and went straight for his pants, fumbling with the buttons and zip. He was still wearing his most of costume from his last routine and, although Bella had to admit that he looked more than just a little bit fuckable, it was more than frustrating to try and get the damned things off!

Snickering slightly into her mouth at the growls of frustration she was emitting, Jasper decided- for both their sakes- to get his clothes off himself. He pulled away, hovering over her prone form, and smirked as her eyes glazed over in lust. He slowly shrugged the suspenders off of his shoulders, agonizingly undid each shirt button.

Taking in the glory of his pale golden chest, Bella sighed in contentment. She reached forward the caressed the silky skin, fingers lovingly tracing the raised trails of scars she had left all over him. She used to be disgusted by the scars- disgusted with herself for inflicting pain on the one person she knew would always love her wholly and unconditionally. But over time, Jasper had shown her that he was proud of them: both the scars and the two of them as a single, cohesive unit, the former tangible proof of the latter.

Sitting up and pushing his shirt off his shoulders, she leaned in to place open mouthed kisses to the patches of healed skin. As her mouth neared one of his flat nipples, she let her tongue dart out and caress it, eliciting a throaty groan from him. His hands made quick work of her blouse, tugging the material over her head and tossing it into an unknown corner. Moments later her bra had taken a similar route.

"Bella... Fuck, oh, Bella..."

She had scooted forward so that she was perched on the edge of the bed, Jasper standing between her knees. Resting her forehead against the rigidly taut muscles of his stomach, she managed to successfully undo his pants. She tugged them down as far as she could reach and used her legs to get them all the way down to his ankles. Kissing his navel and nuzzling the start of the soft dark blonde treasure trail with her nose, she felt his fingers wind themselves in her hair, simultaneously urging her down and pulling her back up.

"Bella," Jasper begged, caught between two immense pleasures: on the one hand, he could let her continue; on the other hand, he could be inside her and not in her mouth.

Bella looked up at him, knowing the hedonistic conflict racing through his brain. She could tell he was on sensory overload- from the victory of pulling a silver medal tonight and now to this.

"What you want, Jazz," she whispered, her chocolate brown eyes meeting his gunmetal blues. "Tonight's all about you. Tell me what you want, Jasper."

As she spoke, her handed traveled to his thigh and she palmed his erection through the thin cotton of his boxer briefs. Another groan escaped him.

"Fuck, Bella, baby, want you..."

"You have me."

With those three simple words, Jasper knew what it was that he wanted. He wanted to show this woman that he loved her completely, that she made him who he was, that without her in his life he wasn't whole. He wanted her to know that he wasn't settling for her but that they were deepening a bond that transcended everything else and that no other persons in the world could ever replicate.

With these thoughts railroading through his head, he pulled Bella up to him and kissed her passionately. Lips melded, breaths mixed, teeth nipped, tongues caressed. Her jeans and panties were quickly discarded at his hands and he laid her on the bed, elbows on either side of her head helping to retain most of his weight. He felt her push his underwear down and he shucked them off. They reached for each other at the same time as Jasper climbed up Bella's body: she for his rock hard cock, and one of his hands to her breasts, the other to her pussy.

Pumping his shaft with her small hands, Bella was, like always, struck with the beautiful dichotomy that was Jasper: hard yet soft, perfect balance of all the things she ever needed. The need to have him was overwhelming.

His mouth kissed a circuit from her ear down her neck to across her chest and landing on one of her dusky pink nipples. The fingers that were toying with her folds were already drenched with her arousal. He slid them up and down her slit, pressing down every time he passed her clit and she moaned and writhed in approval.

Shaking her head as he was about to slip his fingers into her slick warmth, Bella stopped him. "You, Jazz," she breathed. "All of you."

Jasper kissed her deeply as he resettled himself so that his erection rubbed the place his fingers had just been. He moved his shaft against her slit, coating himself in her wetness. Once, twice, three times he slid the head of his cock up and down and then he finally entered her at an agonizingly slow pace. He let out a hiss and she answered with a low moan as her tight warmth enveloped his velvet steel.

He stilled above her, his eyes wrenched closed and his breath coming in swift pants. Bella stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers, her other hand fisted in his hair.

"God, baby... So wet, tight... Every time..."

She hitched her legs high up on his waist and Jasper took that as his cue to start moving. He set a steady pace with his hips and she reciprocated it, his length within her hitting just the right spot. Slowly, he brought his arms down and hooked her knees over his elbows, causing him to drive deeper inside of her. A string of profanities left her lips at the sensation. She could feel the heat coiling at the pit of her belly and she urged Jasper on, gasping as he complied.

Jasper knew she was close and he wanted to watch her come before he fell to pieces. Gritting his teeth and burying his face into her neck, he shifted Bella's right leg so her calf rested on his shoulder. He began a relentless pace, their only music their moans and the slapping of skin on skin. He snaked a hand between them and began to rub her clit just the way she liked it and in no time he could feel her squeezing him from the inside.

"Jazz... Baby... I'm... Ahhhh!"

Her orgasm crashed over like a tidal wave against the shore. And just when she didn't think she could feel anything more, Jasper came, pulsing inside of her and setting off another euphoric level of pleasure. The intensity left her feeling weightless, not like she was floating on a cloud, but like she was the cloud itself, adrift in the open air. It was amazing but all too soon reality rushed back, pulling her back down to the bed where Jasper had curled up their bodies under the covers.

"Congratulations, Jasper," she whispered, looking into his deep blue-grey eyes in the darkness of their room. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Bella. Thank you."

And he wasn't just talking about the sex.

---

"Edward, puh-leeze?"

"No, Rose! You'll see the guy in a week. Can't you wait that long?"

"But I want to see the skaters, too!"

Edward stared at Rosalie incredulously. "Seriously? Weren't you the one who said, 'Figure skaters are just reject short trackers'? What did you call them again, 'ice pansies' and 'the drag queens of the winter world'?"

Rose scowled. "I didn't mean any of that shit!"

"You just want to go for McCarty."

"And McCarty's going for his sister. His sister's a skater. She has a partner. He's a skater, too. Ergo, I'm going for the skaters."

"Since when do you need me to... Oh, fuck, why do you even want me to come?!"

Chewing the inside of her cheek, Rose contemplated her answer. She could lie and say that he needed to relax and that she was in all actuality honoring him with her benevolence; or she could tell the truth and tell him that she was scared shitless of screwing up and that she needed him for moral support. For the sake of her pride and dignity, she went with the former.

"You've been so uptight lately, Cullen," she told him coolly. "A week somewhere new with me and Alice and Emmett would do you a world of good."

"You're the biggest fucking-- wait a sec, Alice is going, too?" Edward was thoroughly confused now.

"Yeah, she was all for it," Rose replied. After I told her I didn't want to look like the world biggest social retard in front of the guy I like, she added silently. "And Emmett really wanted us all to meet Bella and Jasper. And the Mt. Spokane resort is open to letting us train while we're there."

Edward shook his head, wondering if he was going to regret this later on. Ever since the night Emmett had come over for dinner, he and Rosalie had been joined at either the hip or the ear: hitting the slopes and the gym together and, when not actually in each other's presence (which was rare to begin with), constantly on the phone with each other. Even Emmett's trainer Sam had begun to refer to them as a single entity, MettsandRose.

"Fuck. Fine. But you get to talk to the 'rents and feed them... Whatever bullshit you need to."

Rose leapt with joy and barely managed to stop herself from hugging him. "Carlisle and Esme are fine with it; they told me all I had to do was convince you to come."

Edward barely had a chance to scowl as she flounced out of the room.

---

"You're gonna like them," Emmett assured Bella for the nth time. Emmett was sitting at Spokane International, waiting on the Cullens' plane to come in; Bella was in the car with Jasper, heading over to the Spokane arena.

"If you like them then I know I'll like them," Bella agreed. "It's just a matter of them liking me."

"Seriously, Boo? You're worried about them liking you?"

All of Bella's childhood insecurities came rushing back to her at the mere suggestion of his question. Growing up she had been a shy and quiet child, constantly teased for her bookish persona and her extreme clumsiness. The other kids never knew about her passion for skating, but when they inevitably found out, they managed to ridicule her for that, too. So making friends had been tough for her as a kid, resulting in her somewhat social ineptness as an adult. It didn't really help that she insisted on being homeschooled by the time she was ten. Her world basically consisted of skating, Jazz, Emmett, Maggie, and her parents. She was constantly wary of newcomers and, in turn, newcomers seemed to be either overly cautious or dismissive of her.

Jazz could see the storm of thoughts raining down in her head and he placed his hand on her knee in reassurance. He knew all about Bella's past and the emotional agony she had been through.

"Yes, I'm worried about them liking me," Bella repeated after a moment. "You know how well I do with... New people."

"Bella..." The audible sigh she heard from Emmett alluded to all the things he wanted to say, reruns of conversations and arguements passed.

"Em, I don't want to get into this right now," she warned. Sighing herself, she continued. "If you say they'll like me, I trust you."

Bella could hear that her brother still wasn't convinced but she was glad when he let it go.

"So, are you nervous? Nationals is always a big deal."

"Not as big a deal as the Olympics," she mumbled as she spotted the arena a few blocks ahead. "Of course I'm nervous. Knowing me, I'll end up breaking my ankle walking through the changeroom. Or maybe one of the other girls will pull a Tonya Harding on me--"

"That's not funny, Bella," both Jasper and Emmett growled out in stereo, one voice in each ear.

"Fine, fine, I take it back," she groused. "Em, we're here."

"Alright. I'll be there soon, I promise. I'd tell you to break a leg, but you might take me too seriously."

"Bite me," Bella shot back goodnaturedly. "Hurry, okay, Metty?"

"I will, promise."

---

After ending the call with his sister, Emmett glanced at his phone, anxiously trying to mentally plan out the rest of the day. If he wanted to make it to the rink in time for Bella and Jasper- they were skating in the Champion Compulsory Dance this morning- he wouldn't be able to take Rose and the Cullens to their hotel. He grimaced; he didn't want to miss a minute of ice time but he also didn't want to come off as a complete tool. Sighing, he figured he'd better take them to the hotel; Boo and Jazz would understand.

"Em!"

Emmett's head turned so quickly he was afraid he had given himself whiplash. There, weaving in between other travellers, was a toqued silver-blonde heading his way.

"Rosie!" he scooped her up in his arms and swung her around like she weighed nothing at all. God, was he happy to see her. Kissing her gently, he placed her upright on the ground. "How was your flight?"

"A flight." Her tone was flippant and she rolled her eyes, but the little glimmer of playfulness that shone through the violet betrayed her excitement. "We sat, there were peanuts, eh, it's always the same."

He laughed heartily; Emmett was sure that there was no other woman on the earth like Rosalie Hale.

Looking behind her, he spotted the four Cullens: Carlisle and Esme wheeling two carts full of luggage and Edward wheeling a third laden with more luggage and gear and, surprisingly, Alice. She was perched atop a matching set of bags with a happy grin on her face.

"Hey, Em!" she called, causing some other travellers around them to turn and stare. She waved, more at them than Emmett.

"Eyy, Little Pix," he greeted as when they neared. She jumped off the cart and into a hug that he returned. He welcomed Edward and the Cullen seniors and led them towards his rented Hummer.

"So I hear Jasper already medaled," Esme said conversationally as she allowed Emmett take the cart from her grasp.

"Yep," he replied proudly. "Silver medal in the men's. If they weren't already practically guaranteed a spot on the US Team, they sure as hell will be now."

"The team hasn't been chosen yet, then?" Carlisle asked. He wasn't sure of the USOC terms or how all the figure skating stuff worked. He felt a small tug of relief inside of him that Alice had always failed on ice skates.

"They officially welcome figure skating team slots after the Nationals," Em replied. "But the USOC has been grappling for them for the past couple years."

Esme drifted off to the car rental shop, telling the others she'd meet them by Emmett's car. As the others reached the doors to the parking lot, they were suddenly bombarded by photographers and fans. The cacophany of screams and shouted questions and shutters going off startled them all; neither Emmett nor Rose and the Cullens were expecting this.

"Edward! What are you doing here in Spokane?"

"Rosalie, is it true you're opting out of the X Games this year?"

"Emmett, Emmett! Is is true that you and Bella Swan are having an affair? What about Jasper, does he know?"

Emmett growled as he heard this last question. But before he could say a word, Carlisle put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Let me take care of this."

The luggage cart was given to Rose and the group walked away, leaving Carlisle behind. In a commanding tone, Emmett could hear the man wrangle the relentless press.

"My family, Ms. Hale, and Mr. McCarty are here in Spokane to support friends competing in the US Figure Skating Nationals. The rumors you are all alluding to are false."

"He's good at finagling the press," Edward said, mostly for Emmett's benefit, as they moved further away. "Dont worry about a thing."

Emmett nodded but was interrupted by Alice before he could speak.

"How come people don't know that Bella Swan's your sister? And how come you have different last names?"

Before Alice's brother could scold her for prying, Emmett answered. "Bella's fourteen years younger than me. Our parents were together in high school and they had me, but our mom left because she freaked out and she took me with her. When I was seven, she got her shit together and took us back to Forks and finally married my dad. They had Bella seven years later. I tried using my dad's last name but it always sound too weird for me, so I just stuck with McCarty."

At this point they had reached the car and was loading all the luggage inside.

"That doesn't explain how they don't know you two are related," Rose pointed out, tossing a suitcase half her size into the cargo hold with practiced ease. Emmett just shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe it's a last name thing. Boo, Jazz, and I don't do much press, either, so that could be it. And when we do, they hardly ask about anything that personal."

They finished loading the luggage just as Carlisle made his way towards them.

"Damn vultures," he muttered, loud enough for them to hear but still too quiet to be heard by the stray paps that were following him. "Where's your mother?"

"We're still waiting for her," Edward answered. He gestured to the gear and three unloaded suitcases. "We figured you'd want your stuff and keep the gear, too."

Esme pulled up right then, sliding the Hybrid Escalade into the spot beside the Hummer. The cargo hatch opened and she jumped out.

"So, Emmett, we'll follow you to the rink? I'm not all that familar with Spokane."

"The rink?" he asked in reply, slightly bewildered and boardering on speechless. "Don't you want to go your hotel? I mean, it's fine, perfect, really, if we--"

"Calm down, sweetheart," Esme soothed, laying a comforting hand on Emmett's shoulder. The others laughed at his bewilderment. "I looked up all the competition times. You don't want to miss Bella and Jasper's first routine, do you?"

Emmett, still speechless, could do nothing but gather this woman into his arms for a grateful hug.


	5. Meet NotSoCute

**Disclaimer: I don't own nothin'... 'Cept an HDTV to watch the Olympics on!**

Mayyyyjah tenks-tenks to Charma-karma, Megzizzle, and Zipper.

Thanks to everyone who has me on alert and on their favorites! It's nice and all, but reviews are even nicer! But thanks nonetheless for the loves!

Sorry, sorry, I know, I know. I caught a lot of flack for the BellJas lemon, but it was imperative. Everyone was all like 'whaaa?!? no no no, Bellward Bellward!' But, as Jas will explain in further detail coming up, they're best friends in the truest sense of the word. Eh... Enough of me, I'll just let you read.

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Meet-No-So-Cute**

The roar of the crowd calmed Bella's nerves. It seemed strange to her that something that was usually found to incite nerves did the exact opposite for her. Muted footfalls came from behind her.

"Do you think Metty made it?" she asked Jasper without looking at him.

"I'm positive," he answered, putting his hands on her waist lightly. He rested his forehead against her nape and together they breathed, reveling in the calm they brought each other.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Are we ready to do this?"

"More than ready, babe."

"Okay."

Bella turned around in Jasper's embrace and they stayed like that until one of the production gophers announced for them to go on deck. Walking hand in hand, Maggie met them at the green room door and the three of them walked the empty hallway to the sideline box.

"You two have this in the bag," Maggie told them, her usual exuberant tone hushed, almost reverant, in the hall of the competition stadium. "It's the Tango Romantica; you've been able to dance this since before Jasper's balls dropped."

Jasper snickered at the crude mental image and Bella elbowed him playfully in the side. Maggie continued her hushed but still somewhat crass encouragements and by the time they reached the door to the sideline all three were fighting off giggles. But their mood changed dramatically as the door opened.

Familiar music was being piped through the arena sound system and there was a couple on the ice, dancing through the steps of the classic Tango Romantica. Bella watched them for a moment, more in a curious manner than appraising.

"Ooh, ouch," she hissed as the female competitor tripped on her partner's skate and went tumbling. "Poor thing."

"Bella, look."

Bella followed Jasper's pointed finger to a place across the arena, low in the stands near both the ice and the opposite sidebox. Sitting there were their parents and brother. Though they hadn't spotted her yet, Bella couldn't help but beam.

---

"So I'm guessing that wasn't supposed to happen?"

Rose had just watched the skater fall flat on her ass. The collective hiss of disappointment that went out through the stands made her spine tingle, and not in a good way.

Emmett let out a small chuckle. "Nope. Poor kids aren't even going to place now. Get ready to watch the waterworks."

"And if we're really lucky and looking for a show, there's going to be a very angry stage mother," Charlie added from Emmett's other side without taking his eyes away from the ice. He looked more jovial than any other man to be there.

"Dad kinda has this sadistic side," Emmett explained to Rose and the Cullens. "He likes to watch when skaters fall."

"And it's just cruel," Renée added, staring crossly at her husband.

"But it's really the only action there is," he whined, tensing for a moment as the skaters spun wildly on the ice below. He slumped his shoulders in disappointment when they completed the move unscathed.

"And it'll be the only action you get if you don't cut it out, Charlie."

Everyone around them snickered and Charlie had it in him to look sheepish.

"Oh, my God," Alice breathed suddenly, all the color draining from her face. Emmett looked back at her only to see her staring intently across the arena. Turning and following her line of sight, Emmett saw his baby sister beaming as Jasper stood behind her, one hand on her waist, the other pointing at them. His face broke out in a wide grin and he waved.

"Over there," he said aloud. "It's Bella and Jazz."

Renée bounded in her seat as Charlie beamed proudly. Behind them, Alice had almost stopped breathing. The Cullen sister was instantly taken aback by the handsome pair across the arena. Although they were somewhat far away, Alice could plainly spot Jasper's slicked back blonde hair and piercing blue eyes as well as Bella's perfectly coiffed brown tresses, tamed in a side ponytail, and large brown eyes.

"That's them?" she managed to croak as the pair waved then walked off to a box to the side of the ice.

Emmett bobbed his head in front of her, not bothering to turn around. "Yep. Just wait until you see the two of them skate, they're fucking amazing."

"Your sister is certainly beautiful," Esme commented, staring fondly at the couple below them. In her head, she imagined a different couple walking a different sort of path. "And their costumes are divine."

"Oh, thank you," Renée replied, her prideful grin shining brighter than the sequined outfits spinning on the ice. She snuck a glance towards Edward before returning her gaze back to his mother. "I made the costumes myself."

The two mothers didn't quite know it, but both were imagining the same thing- an altar with Edward dressed in tuxedo nines as Bella walked towards him down an aisle wearing an elaborate white dress.

Edward, still a little put out by actually having to be in Spokane, didn't notice either his mother or Emmett's mother's wistful glances. He saw the couple and immediately wrote off the girl- Emmett's sister- as somewhat nondescript. Brown hair, brown eyes, kinda small in all the areas that it counted. Her costume was of a fiery pink color, silver and black accents curling around the tight bodice like flames. Her hair was brushed back tightly into a side bun and there were sparkly things dotted in her hair.

What he did notice, however, was that his sister was just short of salivating over he assumed (Alice was sometimes kind of ambiguous about her sexuality and he never ever really wanted to know much about it to begin with) the blonde partner. But he could've been mistaken. But still, the Animal Planet voice in his head struck again.

_'Now, in a rare example of cross-species mating, watch as this female snowjockus intensely eyes a passing icedancus skatorius. It is obvious in her demeanor- note her straining posture, heavy breathing, and widened eyes with dialated pupils- that she is inexplicably drawn to this creature instead of normally shunning it or mocking it, as her kind is prone to do. The draw, though, is still unsure- will she mate with it or kill it? Perhaps, like the preying mantis of the natural world, both? Only time will tell.'_

He snorted to himself but the sound was caught by Rose who shot him a dirty look; he wasn't paying attention to the conversations around him, so he must've interrupted at the wrong time. He shrugged and she glared at him before turning around again. He wondered idly when they'd get a chance to hit up the slopes at Mt. Spokane.

Charlie's deep, bellowing laugh brought him back to the present. "Look at that mother, crying her eyes out! You'd think her daughter just died, not fell!"

Edward and Carlisle and Emmett couldn't help but snort once or twice and stare intently as the skater's mother broke down into sobs on the sidelines. The women glared at all the men balefully, the wives especially unamused by their husbands. Comically, both Carlisle and Charlie dropped their heads and apologized quietly when the heat of the glare was turned full on to them. This caused Edward and Emmett to snicker then follow the actions of their fathers when their mothers turned on them. Alice and Rose giggled at the display.

"Now watch az zee young, immahture snowjockus iz shamed into submizzion bah ze matriarch of zeir clan," Rosalie teased, biting back a laugh as Edward kicked the back of her seat. Alice dissolved into a fit of uncontrolled giggles, obviously in on the joke.

"Just you wait, Elph," Edward threatened under his breath. "You're next."

---

Jasper's heart went out to the girl who fell, skating past them and into a different sideline box. Her mother was already there, waiting hysterically beside the coach. He was glad that Renée and Charlie were more supportive than critical. His own parents, wherever they were, probably wouldn't have been too happy as his choice to be a skater. From the few memories he had of them that he hadn't managed to repress over the years, they were a horrible pair. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, his fingertips tightening their hold on Bella's hand.

Bella squeezed her hand around his in return. She knew just where his thoughts had gone. They were so in tune with each other that most of the time neither of them needed words. She didn't remember Evelyn or William Whitlock much, but what she did remember she didn't like. She believed that Jasper was too good for them anyway, but she knew he always thought of them at times like this, however fleetingly.

They and Maggie settled from the deck position into the rinkside waiting area, and the two of them focused on the performance ahead of them, Maggie coaching quietly under her breath. They ignored everything but each other as the next couple began their dance. Bella and Jasper were constantly touching, a hand in hand or knees brushing the other's; they calmed each other's nerves. Nerves that seemed to mount as the overhead music began to draw to a close. Almost suddenly, there was applause, the announcement of scores, then they were prompted on to the ice.

Maggie kissed each if their foreheads and ushered them on to the ice, an Irish blessing rolling off her tongue. Bella followed Jasper to the center of the ice, looking over to her family and Emmett's new friends and she could feel a surge of love run through her. She turned her attention back to Jasper who was manipulating them into their starting pose.

"I love you," he said, grinning cheekily as he quickly kissed her forehead.

"I love you," she replied, smiling in kind and kissing the underside of his jaw.

---

"Are Bella and Jasper...?" Alice couldn't resist asking, a little heartbroken as she watched the blonde and brunette on the ice exchange innocent yet intimate kisses as they assumed their starting position.

Emmett, Charlie and Renée laughed, looking at each other in amusement before turning their attention back to the ice.

"You'd think they were," Charlie began as everyone focused on the ice below.

"But my Bellaboo and Jazzy-pie are just really, really close," Renée finished just as the music began.

In her gut Alice couldn't believe their words. As she watched the pair move fluidly on the ice, she could see an obvious intimacy between them. Their whole routine was hard for her to witness, the dance they were playing out seeming so passionate. She felt like she was intruding on a private moment but yet some masochistic part of herself couldn't bear to look away.

Edward suppressed a snort at the McCarty-Swan's obliviousness. It was plain to see that those two were fucking. Something in the way Jasper would hold Bella to him, how their bodies seemed to twist into each other, even when they were skating apart. They were certainly an item, more than just fuck buddies and definitely more than just 'really, really close'.

He felt bad for his sister. The disappointment was radiating from her and a somewhat perverted part of him longed to ask which of the two she was pining for. Smartly, though, he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he went through trick combinations in his head, mentally rewriting his roster. He didn't even know that Bella and Jasper were finished until his father elbowed him in the ribs while clapping. Hastily, he began to applaud as well.

Proud of his baby sister and (for all intents and purposes) brother, Emmett ran down to rinkside. They skated straight towards him and the three of them hugged over the low wall.

"You guys were amazing," he told them, kissing Bella's hair and clapping Jasper on the back before they thanked him and skated back to where Maggie was waiting for them.

Turning around to head back up the stands, Emmett spotted a tall, greasy dark haired man in a beige trench coat and glasses. The man was peering intently after the pair who just left the ice. A sneer formed on Emmett's lips when he realized who it was. He hurled himself up the stairs, heading straight for his father.

"Dad." He pointed wordlessly down at the figure still standing rinkside.

Instantly, Charlie bristled, his shoulder tensing and his spine going ramrod straight. His cop's intuition went off like a klaxon and his hands balled into fists at his side.

"Is that...?" Renée began but stopped when she looked at her husband, her question answered instantly.

Carlisle looked down to where they were all staring and he was instantly on his guard as well. "Kevin Frayne," he muttered.

The whole group was instantly on edge as they waited for the judges to post Bella and Jasper's scores.

"You've dealt with him before?" Charlie asked, never once taking his eyes of the figure below. Carlisle nodded.

"Several times; he's on the International Winter Games and Sport Committee. What is he doing here?"

"He's a rep for the USOC," Emmett spat.

The group was tense as they watched him putter near the ice then walk back to his seat where another recognized USOC member was seated. Edward recalled his previous run-ins with Frayne and his jaw clenched in rage. _If the fucker even dreams of coming up here_, he thought menacingly, _I will tear him into shreds_.

"Look!" Renée cried, sufficiently averting all their attention. "They're posting the scores!"

As the scores were announced, Emmett and Charlie would let out victorious whoops and Renee would harmonize with high pitched squeals of delight.

"So I'm guessing it's good then?" Edward asked lowly, a note of sarcasm going undetected by everyone else. Rose did, though, flip him off subtly as she pretended to rearrange her ponytail.

---

Wearing sweats and matching victorious smiles, Bella, Jasper, and Maggie exited the change room hallway only to be barreled down by an excited Emmett. Bella was being swung up in the air by one arm and Jasper's hair was being ruffled by the other.

"Arrgh! Le'go, Em!" Emmett laughed but obliged Jasper's request. Immediately Charlie and Renée are by him, patting him on the shoulder and hugging him respectively.

Letting out an excited 'squee!' as her brother tossed her around, Bella laughed as she beat her small fists on his back.

"Let me down you oaf," she laughed.

"McCarty!" Maggie barked, causing the bear of a man to stop and wince slightly. "Ye best put her down or you'll be dealin' with me, y'hear? She's still got her short program tonight and if she's anything less than perfect, I'll have your balls as my pancakes for tomorrow's breakfast.

Bella was on two feet so fast that you wouldn't have know she was off the ground at all.

Slight snickers turned into full out howls as Emmett cowered behind his mother. "Jesus, Mags, you could've just said stop."

"Would that have stopped ye?"

"Aw, Mags, leave him be," Bella cooed- or tried to; she was still chortling with laughter. "He meant well and I'm just fine."

After the laughter died down, a round of congratulations began.

"Bella, Jasper, you guys were amazing," Rosalie gushed, stepping out from the side. She waved politely. "I'm Rosalie Hale and these are the Cullens," she began pointing as she introduced, "Esme, Carlisle, Alice, and Edward."

Bella surveyed first the blonde bombshell then the family behind her. With a raised eyebrow, she cast a sideling glance towards Emmett, who had, by now, retreated out of their mother's shadow and was standing with his arm wrapped around Rosalie's waist. He nodded meaningfully at her.

"Hi," she replied when Rosalie had finished talking. She put her hand out and Jasper followed suit, handshakes and polite waves being exchanged.

Jasper was just as skeptical of the newcomers as Bella, just as much for his sake as well as hers. He couldn't stop the wide grin, however as he watched Bella trade a hello with Edward Cullen. He thought he had recognized him when they first came out of the change rooms, but the blush creeping up Bella's neck confirmed where exactly he had seen the man. He poked Bella in the ribs and she retaliated with a sharp pinch to his wrist.

Edward, on the other hand, was completely uninterested in the pair everyone seemed to be fawning over. But, since his mother had raised him properly, he faked what he hoped was the appropriate amount of enthusiasm as he greeted them. As Jasper grasped his hand for a shake, though, the jovially warm blue eyes turned immediately to cold gray steel. Apparently his put on attitude hadn't fooled everyone.

"Well, whaddya all say to a nice lunch?" Charlie said after all was said and done. Maggie shot him a sharp look and he grinned at her. "We won't go far, I swear, Mags. Jazz can even carry Bella if you're so afraid she might trip and fall."

Maggie tossed her longtime friend a sour look but agreed.

"What, make me carry her fat ass?" Jasper teased as they headed towards the parking lot. "It's bad enough I have to haul her around on ice, now you expect me to cart her around town, too?"

"Oh, that's it, buddy," Bella replied, tossing her bag to her brother and rolling up her sleeves. She took a few steps back and reared for her approach. "You asked for it!"

Running gracelessly, she launched herself onto Jasper's back. He caught her easily and he began to piggyback her like she was nothing more than a knapsack. They ran ahead of the group towards the Navigator in the parking lot, their laughter infectious.

"Chinese okay with everybody?" Renée asked, watching her two youngest run off ahead. Everyone agreed. "The Ming Wah Restaurant on West 3rd!" she called after them. Bella raised her arm in acknowledgement.

In all the excitement, no one had noticed that Alice had gone exceptionally quiet. Usually in the thick of things and loud to boot, this time Alice had hung back and watched. She had kept a careful eye on Bella and Jasper, the fault lines in her heart breaking over and over as she watched them be affectionate with each other. Even though she had barely said two words to either of them, what she was feeling hit so far from just plain attraction- it was as if there was some unexplainable draw that she couldn't control. She scoffed when the phrase 'love at first sight' popped into her head, but her heart couldn't help but prove her head wrong.

---

"So how did you two meet, anyhow?" Bella asked around a mouthful of sweet and sour pork she had just stolen off of Jasper's plate.

"Isabella, close your mouth, chew your food, then speak," Renée chastised. "Your going to kill yourself."

After making a show out of chewing and swallowing, Bella turned back to her brother and Rosalie. "So?"

"Boo," Emmett hissed, narrowing his eyes. She grinned in response. "I've told you this already!"

"I know, Metty," she replied simply, popping a dumpling into her mouth. "Just wanted to see if your stories match up." Swallowing her mouthful, she looked at Rose and pointed her chopsticks in her direction. "He's already embarrassed. I like you."

Rose let out a laugh, throwing her head back. A part of her felt immense relief at the words because she knew just how important Bella was to Emmett. She paused for a moment in her head- they were dating, right? Was Emmett actually her… _boyfriend_?

"Well, we haven't heard the story yet," Renée declared, putting down her chopsticks and leaning forward on her elbows. She stared pointedly at her eldest son. "I'm waiting."

A surge of laughter went around the table as their meeting, the wrongful assumptions and their subsequent time spent together was discussed.

Edward was only participating half-heartedly in the conversations flowing around the table. He was mostly wondering what the conditions at Mt. Spokane would be like and how hard it would be to opt out of the evening portion of skating spectating without coming off as rude. He glared at Rose, damning her to hell and back for dragging his ass here.

"So, Metty, feeling threatened by Edward yet?"

At the mention of his name, Edward looked up. He saw Bella staring at him, almost as if in challenge, a cheeky grin gracing her soft features. There was a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks and Edward knew her confidence was at least just a partial front. Returning her stare with a quirked eyebrow and forced grin, he wondered just what in the hell the girl was talking about.

"Pffft, kid's got nothin' on me," Emmett boomed out laughing, not giving anything away. Edward caved.

"What're you talking about?"

Eyes narrowed but still staring at him in that intensely cocky way, she answered, "Step On's feature from a couple months ago."

"Oh, you'd know a helluva lot about that issue, huh, Bells," Jasper snickered as he poked her shoulder. Her blush intensified and she stabbed at his hand with her chopsticks.

Thinking back to the issue in question, Edward paled for a second and gulped. The one where they called him 'the next Emmett McCarty.' _Oh, if only they could see me now_, he thought ruefully.

"Ah, no, I mean, c'mon," he stuttered. "Shit, I mean, what am I supposed to say? Thanks for the compliment but the dude's my idol and I could never be half as good as he is on a bad day?"

Edward blanched, realizing his obvious brain fart and resulting verbal diarrhea. Everyone was was staring at him, their eyes alight with humor. Nobody moved or said a word for the longest twenty seconds of his life. Then Maggie burst out in chuckles that had everyone following.

"Yeah, yeah, yuk it up," he muttered, stabbing at a chicken ball and drowning it in sweet and sour sauce.

---

Skating her warm-up laps at Spokane Arena, Bella couldn't help but think of Edward. What the hell was up his ass? The whole time at lunch he was only half present, acting like the people around him were beneath him. She'd have been upset if she wasn't so pissed off.

"Arrogant son of a bitch," she mumbled under her breath as she skated around two girls working on spins.

When she first laid eyes on him after her and Jazz's compulsory dance routine, she practically melted. He was more attractive than the pictorial spread she had seen: shockingly bright green eyes, wild penny-bronze hair, angular features you could slice a shoe in half with. But her opinion quickly morphed into one of intense dislike when they had gone to lunch: he was sullen the whole time and he looked like he didn't even want to be there. In the car on the way to the hotel for a quick rest, Bella had brought it up with Jazz. He had noticed she was annoyed and called her on it.

"What is with that asshole, anyway!" she seethed, her hands balled into fists at her side.

Jazz didn't interrupt with his own impression of the man although he shared the same opinion.

"I mean, if he didn't want to be here, he should've just stayed wherever the hell he came from. And where does he get off, acting like we're beneath him or something? Eugh, next time I see him, I'd be sorely tempted to shove the sharp side of my skate up that ass of his and see if I can dislodge the stick."

Seeing Maggie wave her down from the sidelines, she slowed to a stop. "Hey, Mags," she panted. "What's up?"

"Don't push yourself too hard, cailín," the coach warned. "Come off the ice and cool down for a minute."

Bella followed her to a bench, tucking her skate blades into their guards and accepting the bottle of water Maggie was holding out to her.

"Now, what's got you skating like you're running from the devil himself?"

Bella muttered some obscenities under her breath before taking a drink. "That asshole, Cullen."

Maggie laughed. "Arrogant little prick, innit he? Ah, don't let the pretty boy get to you, cailín."

Bella grunted in a noncommital sort of way, glaring at the ice ahead of her like she could melt it with her stare.

---

"Alright, squirt," Edward said as he pulled out of the hotel's underground parking. "Spill it."

They were on their way to the Mt. Spokane resort, Edward having managed to tactfully bow out of the evening's activities. To his surprise, Alice had opted to join him. The look of despair she was harboring deep in her eyes made his heart ache for his baby sister.

"C'mon, sistwerp," he plied, nudging her gently with his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"They're really cute together," Alice replied softly, her expression almost catatonic.

"Who?"

"Bella and Jasper," she said, still using that soft far away tone of voice.

Edward snorted. "Is that what this is about? You're hung up on some…" Edward had to think, he didn't want to assume anything, "ice skater?"

Alice said nothing which gave Edward his answer. In an ongoing moment of perversion, he wondered just which one of the skating duo his sister was attracted to.

"Whatever," he said finally, giving up for the moment. "Let's get you out on the slopes and out of this funk."

The rest of the thirty minute drive was spent in silence save for the music he kept cycling through the speaker system. He tried keeping his thoughts in neutral territory but for some absurd reason he kept thinking about Bella Swan. By the time lunch ended he wondered if he had something particularly foul on his face because the looks she was shooting him were akin to how one would look at unscooped dog shit. Was he that transparent, was he that obvious in his distain in wanting to be in Spokane? Sighing, he resolved to apologize to her for whatever wrong he had done and to put forth a little more effort when it came to socializing.

It wasn't as if she wasn't attractive, either. When he saw her come out of the change room, he was pleasantly surprised. Off the ice she was a real beauty; those getups they made skaters wear were definitely not flattering in the least. Bella had been wearing a pair of light grey yoga pants that hugged the curves of her hips and the slope of her thighs and her tight zip-up hoodie accentuated the generous swell of her breasts. But hot bodies were a dime a dozen to him. He was looking for the right girl who would strike that special chord in him, although he wasn't adverse in testing out the others in the meantime.

They reached the resort and had no trouble at all getting up on the slopes. It was a little crowded but the two of them made due, Edward riding the slopes lazily and Alice tearing down at a driven pace. When they met up at the lodge in the early evening, both were significantly tired but physically sated.

"So, you wanna talk about it yet?" Edward offered as they sat in the Vista House lodge nursing coffees before they headed back to the city for dinner.

Sighing heavily, Alice sipped at her drink before replying. "You're gonna think I'm fucking nuts."

"You're a fruit booter despite all my attempts to get you to convert to a proper sport," he replied teasingly, nudging her boots with his own. "I already know you're fucking nuts. But try me."

"I think..." Alice shook her head again. It sounded preposterous to her even in her own head; she didn't want to think of how it would sound. "He's… oh, I don't fucking know!"

Edward had never seen his sister like this before. She was always loud and bubbly and blunt, never ever at a loss for words. He was nervous now, seeing her like this, all over a guy. _Or girl_, he thought wryly. _Can't discount anything._

"Is this about… uh, Jasper?"

"She's fucking gorgeous and he's fucking gorgeous," Alice replied, as if Edward hadn't spoken at all. "And the two of them are fucking gorgeous together. Emphasis on the 'fucking', because they so totally are, I don't care what Emmett thinks. Hell, I'd watch a porno if it starred the two of them. And it's just not fair that two fucking gorgeous and talented people go and have fucking gorgeous, talented sex together and not even consider anyone other than each other!"

The Animal Planet voice in Edward's head kicked while Alice continued to rant despondently.

_'The Snowjockus athleticus is one of the most self-assured and confident creatures of the animal kingdom. But when they find themselves at any kind of loss, the Snowjockus will quickly spiral into a cycle of self-loathing. In the case of mating habits, envy, jealousy, and self-pity are also common.'_

"… of course. I can't even hold a candle to Miss _'I'm So Fucking Sexy And I'm Not Even Aware Of It'_! But he's the one, Edward, I know it! The one!"

Okay, so she's hung up on Jasper. Thank God I got that clear.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a second came crashing into the first like a drunk driver into a tree. _Wait a second, Alice thinks pretty boy dancer is 'the one'?!_

"Slow your roll there, Ali," he said, setting down his coffee on a side table. "You think… he's the one?"

She nodded sadly.

"And you've met him all of, oh, let me count- one time and said, hmm, let's see here- about two and a half words to him?"

Another dispirited bob of her head confirmed his words. He sighed and glared at the stone hearth of the lodge's fireplace.

"All that and you still think he's the one?"

"I don't think it," she whispered fretfully.

"So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Nothing. The two of them are together, I'm sure of it. I'm not gonna be the one responsible for breaking up a nationally acclaimed skating team, _especially_ just before the Olympics!"

"If you feel this way, you can't just sit back and do nothing, Ali." Edward meant for his tone to be soft and comforting but it came off as anything but.

"How would you know," she shot back snidely, obviously misinterpreting him due to the unintended harshness in his voice. "Have you ever felt this way about someone? Because, please, tell me! She must be in there, somewhere within lineup of girls who've seen the underside of your sheets!"

Sneering at his sister, Edward had to defend himself. "Hey, I never play any of those girls. They know and I know what's what; I know what I'm capable of and I know that I'm not looking to be tied down with some random betty looking for her fifteen minutes. At least I'm not hung up on somebody who barely even knows I'm alive."

Glaring at each other venomously, Edward and Alice practically steamed at the ears. She knew it was a low blow to bring up his less than stellar bed roster; he knew it was a cheap shot to bring up her feelings towards Jasper. After a lengthy and loaded stare off, they both slumped down in their seats, muttering apologies to each other.

"Look, if we leave now, we could probably make it in time for a quick bite and then head over to the arena," Edward sighed, picking up his coffee cup, intent on draining it. "Emmett and Rose said that Bella's got some... I don't know, short something _something_ stuff tonight so Jasper won't be on the ice and you could maybe hang with him, say more than 'hello' and 'nice footwork' or something."

"It won't do me any good," Alice muttered, but stood anyway.

"It wouldn't hurt to try."

"It just might."

---

Rose didn't know whether she felt comfortable or weirded out. She was sitting in a nice restaurant with her maybe-kinda-sorta boyfriend, his parents, and her best friends' parents. It was like some kind of strange, Twilight Zone-esque group date. What weirded her out the most, though, was the fact that she wasn't nearly as squicked out as she thought she could've been.

"So, Rose, how's Vera doing?" Esme asked as the six of them nursed drinks and scanned the Greek restaurant's menu.

"She and Henry and Marcel doing great," Rose replied, deciding that she'd have a Greek salad and the feta shrimp alfredo.

"Vera is Rose's younger sister," Emmett explained to Renee and Charlie, setting down his menu and slinging his arm over the back of Rosalie's chair. "She just had a baby a few weeks ago."

Rose nodded proudly, thinking of her little sister's beautiful baby boy. A tug in her heart at the memory of the tiny chubby face had her covertly glancing at Emmett with longing. Little did she know, both mothers were doing the same.

Their meals came and the conversation was plentiful. The men discussed sports and business, the women excitedly chatting about the upcoming X-Games and Olympics. Dinner was easy and entertaining and before long dessert plates of tartufo and baklava were being served.

Esme's phone ringing took her out of her conversation with Renee about the finer points of figure skating. She had always wished Alice would take to the ice but it ended up that putting her daughter on precariously thin skate blades wasn't a good idea. She checked her caller ID, surprised to see her son's name flashing on the display.

"Excuse me for a sec," she told her dining mates. She turned to Carlisle. "It's Edward."

Rushing out to the restaurant foyer, Esme pulled the device up to her ear and answered with a tentative 'hello'.

"Hey, Ma. Ali and I are heading back now," he told her. There was music on in the background, Pat Benetar if she had heard correctly. She figured that meant her two children were in the car and on the road already.

"Please tell me you're using your handsfree," she pleaded. "I don't need you getting arrested any time soon."

Edward laughed. "Yes, Ma, I'm on the handsfree. By the way, d'you still have those passes for the skating thing?"

The Swans had generously given Rose and the Cullens all access passes to the arena so they could watch the figure skating events while they were here.

"Yes," Esme replied slowly. Her son and daughter weren't exactly all that enthusiastic this afternoon when they had reached Spokane. She had expected this kind of behavior from Edward but not from Alice. "Why?"

"Because we're coming," he said plainly, as if it were the most logical and obvious explanation in the world. "We just left Mt. Spokane, we'll meet you at the arena?"

"Uhm, yes." She was still slightly confused. "I'll be waiting outside, just call me when you're getting close, okay?"

"Will do, Ma. See you in a bit."

Esme walked back to the table slowly, wondering what kind of game her son was playing. She and Carlisle hadn't had a chance to speak with him before he left and he had made it quite clear that he wouldn't be joining the rest of the at the arena to watch Bella's short program piece.

"Are the kids alright, Es?"

Shaking herself out of her musings, she sat down with a smile on her face. "Edward and Alice are on their way back; they said they'd meet us at the arena."

---

"And I'll be right there when you get off the ice, okay?"

"Yes, Jazzy," Bella sighed with mock annoyance.

"You're gonna do great."

"Try to convince Maggie to let us go up to Mt. Spokane tomorrow morning?" she asked. The two of them were in the green room again, the group warm up over and the competition starting in a few minutes. Jasper was sitting on a bench against a wall with Bella straddling him, her limbs wrapped around his torso.

"I can't make any guarantees, you know that, baby doll." He was more afraid than any of their family that she might kill herself on the mountain or break a limb or something. It wasn't even because it would put them out of the competitions, but because it almost physically hurt him to watch her get hurt.

"But you'll ask."

"Yes, I'll ask."

Bella spied a production assistant standing at the door of the room. "I think they're making you leave now."

Jasper looked and nodded. "I'll be sitting in the same spot they were sitting at this morning. I love you."

"Play nice with the asshole," Bella teased, referring to Cullen. Jasper stood and deposited her on the bench just as Maggie came striding into the room. "I love you."

He left the room with a pat on the arm from Maggie and a number of longing looks from the other skaters in the room. He rolled his eyes; didn't any of them see that they didn't even hold a candle to Bella? They could bat their eyelashes all they wanted, he'd never give any of them a second look.

Navigating his was to the stands, Jasper thought about other women. There were currently three women in his life: Bella- of course- and Maggie and Renee, who was, for all intents and purposes, his mother. They were his holy trinity of feminine perfection, the three that any potential woman to enter his life had to gain approval from.

He wasn't stupid, after all. What he and Bella had encompassed their friendship, yes, but he knew someday that they'd both need *more. Yes, they loved each other, but it wasn't the same kind of love he witnessed everyday between Renee and Charlie. Or the same kind of love he saw was bubbling between Emmett and Rosalie. Bella wasn't a sister but she just wasn't a mere friend. She was a part of him. But they both needed people who complemented them.

He reached the section he knew his family would be in and began to climb the stairs. He could hear Emmett laughing boisterously and his attention suddenly piqued when he heard laughter like the tinkling of bells. No, not bells but… Wind chimes. Intrigued, he quickened his pace.

"… and there he was, actually naked!" Rose finished, her exclamation met with another round of laughter and a scowl from Edward.

Glad that he had missed the end of that story, Jasper approached the laughing group.

"Jazzpie!" Renee cried happily, jumping up from her seat and rushing over to him. She dragged him over to the group and sat him down between herself and Charlie. The man slung his arm around Jasper's shoulders.

"So how's our girl?"

"Good, she's good," he replied absently, looking for the source of the wind chime laughter. There was Mrs. Cullen, but she had a huskier laugh, he had heard so himself at lunch; Rosalie's voice was too throaty to have been the one, as well. That just left the little Cullen.

He stared at her intently. She hadn't made much of a lasting impression at lunch, to be honest. He found her to be too much of a wallflower when they met earlier in the day. Now, though, he was ready to retract and rescind that opinion. Her cheeks were all rosy pink and her hair was sticking out in feminine spikes beneath her red and white striped toque. Her face was angular but not unappealingly so, just sharper features than one normally found on a female, and crowned with bright green eyes like both her parents and her brother. Jasper willed her to speak, to laugh and prove to him that she was worth the sudden interest he was affording her with.

"How were the slopes?" he asked her, knowing that she and Edward had gone up to the resort. "I didn't think you guys would make it back."

She blushed, the rosy pink melting into a healthy cherise on the apples of her cheeks. Jasper caught Edward kicking her in the shin and she began to stutter.

"Um, yea, we thought, uh, y'know..."

"We wouldn't have missed Bella skate tonight," Edward covered smoothly. "Your finals are on Saturday, right? We wanted to get a feel for the caliber of skating we're going to be watching."

Jasper raised his eyebrow at him, letting him know that he wasn't fooled by his bullshit, and Edward just shrugged in return.

"Well, we might see you on your turf tomorrow," Jasper replied, looking again at the blushing wool-topped fairy. "We have the morning free and Bella wants to head up to the resort."

It was Edward's turn to be surprised as Emmett and Charlie just shook their heads. "She boards?"

"Yeah, they both do," Emmett answered. He shrugged when the Cullens stared at him. "What, I'm a gold medal boarder, you don't expect me to teach my baby sister how to ski and board? I just hope she doesn't kill herself."

Renee smacked her son's burly chest. "Shut up! You'll jinx things!"

* * *

So, what are your fave winter sports? RIP to the Georgian Team. Olympics are great so far, other than that, though... Too bad for Jen Heil; c'mon Canadians, we need our gold!

Lu²


	6. Impressively Unimpressive Impressions

**Disclaimer: I own N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Well, not _nothing_, but not Twilight.**

WOOT WOOT!!! BILODEAU!!! HEIL!!! ROBERTSON!!! GROVES!!! RICKER!!! And, just as I post this, ST-GELAIS!!! That's how we do in the Great White North!!!

So a little news for WG... Will elaborate later in end notes. Usual thanks to Charm, Meg, Zi, qjmom, & myimm0rtal. :)

Thanks to all who review, favorite, and alert and such. Will try to get to replying, but it's hard between real life, writing, and watching the Games. But know that you all are appreciated. ILYs!!! :)

Here we see a little boardwork at Mt. Spokane with the gang...

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Impressively Unimpressive Impressions**

"If you hurt yourself, I will kill you," Maggie warned over the handsfree speakers in the car. "I swear to you, lass, I will throttle you with me bare hands."

Bella laughed, the travel mug of hot chocolate in her hands bouncing merrily.

"You think I'm joking, cailín?" Maggie threatened. "And Jasper, if she comes back with so much as a scratch on her, so help me God, say goodbye to your future little ones."

And before either of them could say anything, she hung up.

---

Two cars behind, Emmett, Edward, Rosalie and Alice were happily chatting away. There had been a decent snowfall the night before and all four were itching to get out on the slopes.

"So Bella and Jasper know how to board?" Alice asked, practically vibrating in the back seat. She was excited to see Jasper on her turf. And for Jasper to see her on her terms. There had been a shift in their dynamic the night before- that is to say, a dynamic had been developed in place of the nonexistent acquaintance they had started out with. Alice had found a quiet intensity in Jasper's demeanor whenever he regarded her and she decided to take that as a good thing.

"Yeah. We used to come here to Mt. Spokane a lot growing up," Emmett replied. "We grew up in this little bumfuck town a few hours outside of Seattle so we'd drive across to Spokane every couple of weekends in the winter. Jazz can shred the shit like any other but Boo's better on skis."

"But she loaded a board into their car," Rosalie pointed out, obviously confused, thinking of the packing debacle they engaged in at the hotel's underground parking garage.

"Yeah, well, less chance of her breaking a leg on one board than on two."

"So I'm guessing she's clumsy, then?" Edward snarked, which Emmett answered with a laugh.

"Yeah, Boo's about as graceful as an upright donkey in stilettos."

_You'd never guess by watching her skate_, Edward thought as the city rushed by them. Last night he had pulled his head out of his ass and watched- really watched- as Bella skated her short program dance. It was nothing short of amazing. The fluidity of her body, the exact precision of her movements had him wanting to stick a pair of skates on and join her to try and find that serenity she seemed to have as she glided across the ice.

She skated the way he boarded.

When that thought had struck him just as she finished her routine he really wanted to smack himself for his earlier behavior. Suddenly his apathy seemed pathetic and juvenile, his disinterest insulting and narcissistic.

This morning when the group had met up for an extra early breakfast, he had tried his damnedset to talk to her. But she was polite, cordial even. He watched as she interacted with everyone else and it was with a relaxed and playful attitude. She was constantly arguing with somebody about something, even playing the devil's advocate just to get a rise out of them; this seemed to enthrall her to no end. It was fascinating to watch her, especially in those moments of mischief: the constant pink flush of her cheeks was a reminder of just how innocent she really was.

Edward aimed to better her opinion of him today. No matter what, he was now determined to at least be her friend before they all left for Aspen. But, if all worked out as he hoped with Alice and Jasper, he was hoping she'd more amenable to more than just friendship.

"Earth to Edward!"

He snapped his head towards the voice calling out to him. Rose had reclined her seat so that she was staring up at him from his lap.

"This is a totally unflattering angle on you, by the by," she snarked. He grinned down at her and poked her in the forehead just before she brought her seat back up. "What's got you all emo, Sullen Cullen?"

"I'm not being emo," he defended with a small pout. "God, what I wouldn't give for a cherry cheese danish and coffee from Timmy HoHo's."

Emmett glanced back at Edward with a perplexed expression. "Timmy who now?"

"Tim Horton's!" all three Canadians in the car cheered.

"Only the best anything this side of North America," Rose stated matter of factly. "Too bad there isn't one in Spokane. I checked."

"If you want coffee, we could just swing by a Dunkin'," Emmett replied, still somewhat confused. Coffee was coffee, it got him up in the morning, kept him up at night. He couldn't understand what the big deal was.

"Eugh, _Dunkin' Donuts_," Alice spat.

"I'd rather waste ten dollars on Starbucks," Edward piped.

"Eugh, _Starbucks_," Alice groused again, a giggle punctuating her faux disgust.

"So, it's coffee?"

"How have you not had Tim Horton's before?" Rose cried dramatically. "I can't be with a man who doesn't appreciate the fine Canadian tradition that is Tim Hortons!"

Emmett blanched for a moment, but it was long enough for the others to notice and to burst out laughing.

"Just for that, we're doing Dunkin'."

---

"Where's Metty?"

"He and the others stopped for a coffee refill," Renee answered as she and Esme unloaded gear from the trunk of her rental. "They said they'd bring us some."

Bella nodded and perched on the Navigator's back bumper. Jasper joined her.

"So, how are the animosity levels today, darl?"

"Eh." Bella shrugged and decided to avoid answering about the person he was really asking about. _If I don't talk about him, he does not exist_, she thought childishly. "I like Rose; she's good for Metty, y'know? He needs somebody to stick their boot up his ass and she seems like she can do it. And Alice is really shy, but she seems nice enough."

Jasper pursed his lips in thought for a moment as he contemplated Alice. She had totally thrown him for a loop last night, and he wasn't yet sure if it was a good or a bad thing.

"I got to know her a little last night," he started, choosing his words carefully. He and Bella hadn't been in a situation quite like this one before, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt his best friend. "She's really nice. You'd like her."

Bella nodded absently in response.

"And Cullen?" Jazz dared ask. He held back a smirk.

"Don't know, don't care," she replied succinctly as her father and Carlisle approached and Emmett's Hummer cruised into the lot. "But if he thinks I'm just some vapid figure skater, he's got another thing comin'."

When Emmett parked, the parentals went fussing about with the equipment and registration. Rosalie, in all her haughty blonde glory, stepped down from the passenger side gracefully while balancing a cardboard box filled with to-go coffee cups.

"Not friggin' fair," Bella muttered under her breath, jumping off the bumper of their rental and stalking over towards the caffeine. Jasper heard her, though, and fought to suppress his snickers as he trailed after her. "I'm a world-class, gold medal champion but I will never look that graceful balancing one cup of coffee, let alone four."

"I brought you a giftee, Boo," Emmett sang, dancing over to her and plucking a cup from Rosalie's load. "They even had marshmallows."

A grin lit up Bella's face instantly. "I think I actually may love you, Metty."

"Hey, now, that's no way to treat the bearer of hot chocolate."

"I'd treat you better if there was a bag with a cherry cheese danish in it somewhere in that overcompensating joke of a vehicle behind you."

"Ouch, you're just doling out the pain this morning, ain'tcha, baby sis." Emmett rumpled the beanie on Bella's head as she grabbed the cup from his hands. "You and Edward ought to team up, go on the road. Hey, Rosie, what is it you call Cullen again?"

"Sullen Cullen. Why?" Rose started picking her way back towards them after handing out coffee. Edward pulled his head out of the back of the Hummer and scowled at them

"Ahh, Sullen Cullen and the Snarky Swan!" Emmett laughed. "Better than Laurel And Hardy, on par with Statler and Waldorf!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Bella rolled her eyes and sipped carefully at her drink. "Danish now, please?"

Alice came dancing up to them and Bella had another moment of grace-envy. "I didn't see any danishes but I got you a muffin."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Bella took the bag with a small appreciative smile. She stood awkwardly as everyone else segued into comfortable conversation.

Though she had managed a pretty good job of it thus far, socializing was something that Bella had to work at and she sometimes cursed herself for pushing the homeschooling card with her parents as a child. She didn't know how to really deal with people and when they continued on with their interactions, Bella was usually left overthinking and feeling awkward and strange in her own skin. It was a feeling she equated with failure and that made her want to curl up in a ball and cry.

Jasper, sensing her ill at ease, pulled Bella's tensed body into his own, his grip not loosening until she melted into his comforting embrace. As he waited for Bella to calm, he snuck a glance at Alice, who was trying hard not to look at him but failing, with a neon pink staining the apples of her cheeks.

Edward watched with a falling heart his sister's embarrassed reaction and Jasper and Bella's obvious and blatant show of affection. _Way to rub it in both our faces_, asswipe. He had the urge to deck the tall blonde right in the mouth but fought it with every fiber of his being. Instead, he picked up coffee cup from the cup holder beside him and walked over to the group.

"Yoink." Jasper pinched the paper pastry bag out Bella's hands, knowing Alice's intentions were good but that Bella wouldn't eat the poor muffin. The girl had a love that bordered on obsession with danishes and the only flaky pastry she'd ever eat in the morning were cherry cheese danishes. He munched on the muffin as Bella shot him a grateful look under the guise of a glare.

They hung around the parking lot finishing the second breakfast of the day. Esme, Alice, and Renee were skiing for the morning and everyone else had their snowboards. A round of warnings and cautions were spoken, most directed at Bella (who, though she hadn't even gotten into her boots let alone strapped to her board, already managed to trip and bite her tongue) who returned them with a cheerful raspberry.

"So, think you can best me, skater girl?" Alice teased, falling into step with Bella after gearing up. They were making their way over to the lifts and the small woman's immediately friendly overture startled Bella somewhat.

"Uh, I don't think so," Bella started off shyly.

"But strap on a pair of skates and then ask her that question," Jasper finished, covering Bella's insecurity and managing to skillfully inject himself into the conversation. "So how long have you been skiing for?"

"Oh, forever. We grew up in Toronto and Mom and Dad would always take us to Blue Mountain or Mont Tremblant." Alice bounced her steps a little, happy that her gesture of friendship was so well received. "When we got older, we'd spend whole winters over in Whistler. It was pretty cool. How old were you when Emmett taught you?"

"I was six, Jazz was nine," Bella answered, growing familiar with Alice's kindness and enjoying it. "We'd come up here to Spokane all the time and Emmett actually got a job teaching little kids how to board and ski. To encourage him, Mom signed us up."

The three climbed into a gondola together and brought the bar down.

"The first year was an absolute disaster," Jasper explained. "Bella broke her wrist on a bunny hill. Don't ask how, because none of us know, but she still managed it. But the day after she got her cast, she was right back up on a bigger hill, just itching for another go."

They shared a laugh. Bella blushed at the memory and looked ahead to the lift in front of them. She began to laugh harder and she raised her voice.

"Now I see why they call you Sullen Cullen!"

Edward, having gotten stuck on a lift with Emmett and Rose, was not enjoying himself: the two were being disgusting cute and he was afraid he was going to lose the lunch he hadn't yet eaten. He was hanging over the side of the lift with his head in his hands. But when he heard the snarky, melodious voice yards behind him, he turned and glanced blankly for a second before righting himself. He wasn't sure if her comment had been in jest or not.

"You try riding with these two," he called back. "It's like watching Animal Planet!"

"Ahhh, here we 'ave a vain and lonezome snowjockus," Rose snickered from Emmett's other side.

"Bite me," Edward mumbled.

---

As the lift dropped Emmett off at the top of the run for the third time that morning, he crunched over to his sister and deposited a violet iPod Nano into her hands.

"Here, this is Rose's," he said taking the iPhone she held out to him. "Whose is this?"

It was a family tradition between Emmett, Jasper, and Bella to exchange music during trips to the mountains. After the device exchange, the user would put it on random and go down the mountain with whatever music was playing. It started with walkmen then graduated to CD players, basic mp3 players, and to iPods and iPod Touches and iPhones.

"Alice's," Bella answered, flipping the device over and showing him the case bedazzled in navy Swarovski crystals.

"Anything you should warn me about?"

"Just try not to be too surprised," she replied, hooking up her headphones to Rose's iPod. Just as she stuck an earbud under her earmuff, Cullen came sliding over, a blue cased iPhone in his hands.

"Did you switch already?" Emmett asked as he made his way over.

"Yep. At the bottom with Alice." Edward nodded then turned to Bella. "You're really good."

She blushed at the compliment and at the way he was appraising her. "Thanks."

Edward shouldn't have been surprised since her brother was an Olympic caliber snowboarder, but Edward had hung back on the first two runs to watch Bella. With every meter his eyebrows raised in slight shock. Had she not been a figure skater, she could probably made a career as a pro boarder.

"Race y'all down?"

They both turned to see Emmett hovering over the edge of the tipping point, securing his goggles over his eyes. Bella snapped her last strap in and tugged her goggles down and she and Edward slip over to the tipping point.

"Tricks are a must and the first one down wins the pot."

"I'm in, a hundred bucks," Bella replied.

Edward glanced at them momentarily. _They bet money on this shit?!_ "Uhmm... Yeah, I'm in. A hundred."

"We're talking American dollars, Canuck Chuck," Emmett teased. Edward flipped him off with a grin. "Alright. I'm in, a hundred. On you marks… get set… … … GO!"

But Emmett was already gone.

"False start, asshole!" he heard Bella cry just before pushing herself down the steep decline. Edward followed her actions, 'Ring Of Fire' blaring in his ears. Up ahead, Emmett had just completed a 540° spin off a small ledge so he aimed for the same spot to pull off a quick indy. Just yards from the jump, Bella's silver jacket jumped in front of him, causing him to swerve last second. She mounted the jump and he slid past it, watching her complete a 360° turn and land cleanly on his left. His jaw almost dropped as she sped by with a wink.

"Son of a bitch..."

Bella was intent on showing the arrogant bastard who was who this morning. Though she didn't want to push herself too hard that she wouldn't be able to skate that evening, something inside her craved to prove herself to Cullen, show him that, though she didn't exactly like him, she was worth the time, effort, and interest. And, by the look on his face when she landed her 360, she was on the road to success on that front.

Bella groaned as Britney Spear's 'Womanizer' began to play, but pushed down a little more on her left foot regardless. Emmett was in her sights now, recovering from a failed corkscrew off a ledge just ahead of her. Swerving to her right, she aimed the nose of her board to the jump and laughed triumphantly as she soared over her brother's head performing a 180° tail grab. She landed clean and soared down the hill.

---

"Jasper and Bella are good," Carlisle commented to Charlie as they stood at the foot of the slopes, watching their respective children race down the snowy white mountain. Each had a pair of small binoculars in hand and were watching out for Edward, Bella, and Emmett seeing as the others had just reloaded themselves on the lifts not more than three minutes before.

"Thanks. It's all Emmett's doing, really." Charlie cleared his throat and peered through his binoculars. "I know Rosalie isn't your daughter but-"

"She may as well be." Charlie looked over to the blonde beside him. Carlisle just kept staring at the snow ahead. "Don Hale left them when she was a kid; had an affair with his secretary and took off with her when Shiela was pregnant with Vera."

Charlie nodded, understanding. "Jasper's parents left when he was seven. Said that they never wanted to be parents and they tried as hard as they could to raise him but he just didn't 'fit' into their lifestyle. But like I was saying, I know she isn't you kid or anything but I think she could be good for my son. And I know it's neither yours or my place to say this, but I'm going to anyway: thank you."

Both fell silent, appreciating and regarding each other in quiet.

"There's Edward." Carlisle lifted his binoculars and saw his son's green and black parka do a backflip off a snow covered log. A shot of silver did a clumsy nosegrind and a blot of blue pulled a 540 aerial close behind.

"Oh, Jesus," Charlie muttered as he watched his daughter complete another jump and push ahead of Edward. "Get ready to play judge. My kids like to compete and it looks like they've got yours in on the race."

Carlisle laughed. "It looks like it."

The three barreled down the hill, neck and neck after a final set of tricks, and both fathers laughed.

"They've got money on this, I just know it."

"Competitive spirit run in the family, Swan?"

He paused instead of answering. "Fifty bucks says my daughter beats out both our boys."

"Fifty says she doesn't."

"You're on."

---

"A table for ten, please," Renee said to the hostess at the podium. As she waited for the table confirmation, she turned back to Esme. "It must be a totally invigorating experience, though!"

Esme laughed lightly. "I suppose. But my mother was one of _those _types so..."

"Oh, God help you! So if you were a summer, how did you two end up meeting?"

"Well, Carlisle's mother's family bred and owned horses and we ended up buying my show horse from them," Esme replied. They were being led to their table at this point and they paused in their conversation to order their drinks. "He was playing polo-"

"Rather badly," Carlisle interjected, immediately recognizing the story being told.

"Oh, stop, you weren't that bad," she chastised.

"I fell off my horse."

"Yes, well."

"Twice."

Renee gasped and Charlie chuckled. "Really?"

"Yep. When she first got out of her father's car and again when I saw her leaving," Carlisle stated proudly. "Took my breath away. Still does."

Alice made a gagging noise to the others as they walked past, heading towards the buffet.

"Well, you have one helluva dynasty there, Carlisle," Charlie said, nodding respectfully at the man. "Your grandfather was an Olympic gold-medal skier, your father was an Olympic gold track star, you're an Olympic gold biathlete and your wife is an Olympic gold equestrian. And your kids have two silver and a bronze between them."

"Some call us overachievers," Carlisle joked in reply. The wives had already moved on to a different conversation. "You're not in such bad shape yourself, Charlie. Internationally successful, third generation owner of a sports gear business, your three kids internationally acclaimed athletes… Might as well give us Cullens' a run for our money."

One man snickered, patting the pocket that held the spoils of war as the other shook his head ruefully, the smile signifying that it was only the beginning.

---

"So who's up for movies before Boo and Jazz have to go in for practice?"

"Emmett..." his mother warned.

"Don't worry, Mom," Bella piped up. "We'll order something from the hotel. I'm game. No horror, sci-fi, or anything with Harrison Ford or Mel Gibson."

"If we can't watch Indiana Jones or Braveheart, then I'm out," Jasper teased, ruffling Bella's hair affectionately. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Lunch had been a relaxed affair for everyone. Well, almost.

Jasper was struck silent as he watched Bella and Alice bond over what seemed to be nothing; he couldn't stick a word in edgewise between Alice's rapid banter but Bella was keeping up with the little fey easily, throwing in comments here and there with an understated enthusiasm. Alice seemed to contain a boundlessly positive attitude to everything, and it made him a bit envious. He was a realist by nature but just being near her and her contagious optimism made him feel light. And the eternal smile that never left her little pink bow lips had Jasper amazed.

Edward only ended up eating a fraction of what his normal appetite would usually hold due to the fact that watching Bella eat across from him was sexy, sensual, and enthralling: the way her full lips would part in perfect form, how they'd wrap around her fork, how she would chew on her bottom lip with her top teeth when she was listening to his sister or Rosalie prattle on about something inconsequential.

For both, lunch was hard in more ways than one.

---

"I think I like them," Bella stated that night as they lay facing each other in bed. Their routine that evening had received top marks and, if all went well the next day, they were almost guaranteed to medal.

"Who, darlin'?" Jasper yawned. It had been a long day, for him especially. Normally he and Bella were so attuned with each other that every move she made was second nature to him; while today hadn't been any different in that regard, his senses seemed to be ultra sensitive to a certain diminutive sprite. His head would immediately whip in her direction when he heard her voice, he spied her specifically before he got on the ice, the sound of her tinkling cheer over the roar of the crowd was the only sound his ears picked up as the music ended and his body stilled. To say that the extra mental strain of it all was taxing would be an understatement.

"Them," Bella repeated, stretching her legs and rolling her ankles delicately under the blanket. "Rose is really... I don't know, but she takes some getting used to, in a good way, though."

He snorted, biting back a laugh. "Yeah, uh, '_getting used to_.'"

Bella giggled. "And Alice is this huge ball of energy stuffed inside this teeny tiny person. I was kind of scared of her at first but then... I guess she just grows on you kinda quick, you know?"

Jasper bit his tongue, for reasons other than humor this time.

"And Mr. and Mrs. Cullen seem so great," she continued. "They're so nice and stuff, but not the contrived kind of nice that most people put on. And they treat Rose like their own... Kinda reminds me of Mom and Dad.

Though still partly preoccupied with his mixed feelings towards his fixation with Alice, it didn't escape Jasper's notice that Bella had failed to mention a certain someone from the Cullen clan.

He was sure no one else had noticed, but several times throughout lunch he had caught Edward staring at Bella longingly. There had been a noticable shift in his attitude and Jasper wondered what the cause of it was exactly. He was sure that no person could do a 180° personality flip in twenty-four hours without some sort of epiphany or hidden agenda. Knowing the fantastical gossip surrounding Edward's long line of female 'admirers', Jasper was inclined to believe the latter and was immediately on the defensive when it came to the junior Cullen.

"I liked them, too," Jasper finally said after a short silence punctuated by severl yawns shared between the two. "And I know for sure they certainly liked you."

Bella had been waiting and partially dreading this conversation. Her confidence on ice didn't exactly cover her confidence in people. Most of the day spent not concentrating on skating had been spent dwelling on whether the newcomers had been sincere in their friendship or just acting out a farce for the sake of Rosalie and Emmett's budding relationship. To hear Jasper's opinion on the matter eased her mind- he would never lie to her, especially on something as important to her as this.

As they snuggled closer together, a smug smile crossed Bella's face in the dark. She knew it hadn't escaped Jasper's scrutiny that she hadn't mentioned Edward at all; she had done it on purpose, after all. It was his surefire way of getting his opinion: by not pointing out her omission, she knew that Jasper did not like him. But after spending the morning in close proximity to him, she was now unsure of how exactly she felt towards him. What she was sure of, though, was the fact that she seemed to have impressed him today, his eyes never leaving hers but his mouth unable to articulate more than a few confused stutters at a time.

It all seemed to warm the tiny vindictive part of her heart.

---

For the second time the very next day, the cheering of the crowd was so loud but Edward didn't hear any of it. He was screaming triumphantly himself, drowning everybody else in the section out. He wanted to run out on to the ice but a part of him warned that just his enthusiastic cheers were suspicious enough; his family was starting to notice.

His cheering lessened in volume by a fraction as he watched Jasper slide out on to the ice and pick up Bella, victoriously whirling around as a rain or flowers and stuffed animals rained down on them from the stands.

Edward stopped suddenly, mid-cheer and hands thrown up in the air. _I want that to be __**me**_, he thought as the spectators around him seemed to almost slow down in the face of his revelation.

Bella looked up into the stands then and he caught her eye. She skated closer and he could easily see the delighted twinkle adorning her huge brown eyes. As they shared a weighted glance, her cheeks burned a noticable ruddy pink.

_Next time_, he thought, _it will be me_.

* * *

Yay, getting closer to the games... So I want to postpone the chapters that have the games so I can tweak them, try to make them as realistic as possible... But that means there are two more chapters before a little WG hiatus. I'm gonna try to post another story that I have a bunch of chapters for and y'all get to choose! Check out the blog for summaries and such: luluvee(dot)blogspot(dot)com

How many medals have your countries won? What's been your favorite Olympic moment so far?

Review, it makes watching the Olympics all that sweeter. :)

--Lu²


	7. One In The Same

**Disclaimer - SM own _Twilight_. LV does not stand for Louis Vuitton and does not own _Twilight_. Sad_._**

Yes, yes, yes, hate me all you want. In a perfect world, you'd have gotten this update sooner. It's not a perfect world. But at least you have it! And, the good news is is that Chapter Nine is finished from revisions so that ought to be coming soon... Right after Chapter Eight, hehe. Cuz, you know, I like things to come in consecutive order and all.

Hearts -- Charma Karma, the love of my life; stars and horseshoes -- Meggie & Zipple for not hating too too much; clovers & blue moons -- most excellent superb valibetas in the world myimm0rtal & qjmom; pots of gold & rainbows -- my lovely readers who wonders what was wrong with me and why I was AWOL for so damn long. I love you, I'm here, I promise to try and not leave you hanging for so long without warning ever again. I live for the PMs and reviews, even if I respond or not. I do read them all, I promise.

One last thing: I would _sooooo_ totally have Sidney Crosby's babies. That is all.

* * *

**Chapter 7: One In The Same**

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. I wish I was."

"One? Just _one_?"

"Yep. Just one."

"I can't believe that."

"Believe it."

"Christ, they have more in, like, Keswick or Brantford!"

"I'm guessing those are small towns, too?"

"Yeah. Well, Brantford's not so much a town as it is one giant corn field and cattle pasture interspersed with paved roads and farm houses."

"But, Christ, not as small a town as this! Just one? Really?"

"Yes, just one."

The parents snickered as they listened to their grown children banter back and forth in the kitchen over breakfast.

"We can walk through the whole town and I will prove to you that there is only one."

"You know, we could probably do it now and by the time we come back your coffee would still be hot."

"No way. You're exaggerating."

"Nope. Boo, am I joking?"

"He's not joking."

"Forks cannot be that small!"

"Get up."

The sound of a chair scraping against linoleum sounded.

"Get up. I will prove it to you."

There was more rustling and thumping and the argument continued.

"Check your coffee, Alice, because I swear to you it'll still be hot when we get back."

"Just a touch and a half hotter than lukewarm if we walk."

"Perfect drinking temperature, really."

"Shut up. Your town is not that small!"

"Twenty bucks says it is."

"Not falling for it."

"Then you believe me."

"No, you guys have the hometown advantage."

"When are you gonna learn, Cullen?"

The six of them came tromping out of the kitchen in their sweats and pajamas with parkas on top, heading straight for the shoe mat in the hallway.

"Where are you guys going?" Esme asked, a bemused grin on her face.

"We," Bella pointed to herself, Jasper, and Emmett, "are going to prove to them that Forks really does only have one set of stop lights."

Renee laughed. "The one on Main Street and Road Avenue. Yeah, they put that up back when we were in high school. We got a day off for the revealing and everything. Remember that, Charlie?"

"Yep, sure do."

"Holy Jesus, Forks only has one stoplight and it's not even fifty years old?!" Edward blanched at the incredulity of it all.

---

"Wanna pass by the high school?"

After their quick early morning excursion- in which Alice, Rose, and Edward found themselves dumbfounded as they stood on the corner of the town's only cross lights- they had cleaned themselves up and were lounging around the Swan's living room. Charlie and Renee had brought Carlisle and Esme to the store and the rest of them were left up to their own devices, as they were not leaving for Aspen until the next day.

The Swans had invited the Cullens to come to Forks before heading out to Colorado after Bella and Jasper's Nationals competition. Everyone had agreed since they were all headed out to Aspen next anyway; Rosalie and Emmett were especially happy with the plan.

"God, no." Bella shuddered, walking into the living room with Jasper from the kitchen. "The high school? It's bad enough that I don't like any of the kids there. They'll probably make us do some dumb speech about staying in school and not doing drugs. Like last time."

"Last time?" Alice prompted. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch when she felt two legs slip over either side of her body and a long braid rest on her shoulder. She turned and looked up and saw Jasper blushing down at her slightly as he settled behind her on the couch with Bella's head comfortably in his lap and turned out towards the room. Glancing at Bella, she returned the tentative but kind smile she saw.

As Emmett explained the chaos that was their last visit to his and Jasper's alma mater, Bella was stuck in her own thoughts. Was she the only one who could see the attraction between Jasper and Alice? No one had made mention of it and, though the two themselves seemed to have little to no interaction at all, the furtive glances and gestures filled with a slight longing were definitely obvious to Bella. What she also knew was that Jasper was holding back for her sake. Neither had ever been in a position where a third party had been involved: Bella didn't know many people her age to socialize with and Jasper found the girls in school to be too mind-numbingly vapid for his tastes. Though this was a new development, Bella didn't mind it at all. She knew that Jasper was her best friend and that one day he'd meet someone. Having gotten to know Alice, Bella believed her to be perfect for her best friend.

"How about something in Port Angeles?"

"Where's that?"

"It's the closest thing Forks has to a city without going to Seattle. It's about an hour out of town."

As Jasper and Emmett spelled out the options awaiting them in the next town over, Edward couldn't help but gaze jealously in the direction of the couch. His sister seemed to have infiltrated the clandestine relationship of Jasper and Bella and he couldn't help but feel left out. He contemplated moving from his place in the arm chair to the couch, specifically the seat by Bella's legs, but he knew he wouldn't be able to play it off smoothly.

"Well, if we're going to shop, I'm going to need at least an hour at Borders."

Edward looked up at the sound of Bella's voice.

"An hour?" Emmett whined.

"At least," Bella affirmed with a smirk. "And reading a book or two wouldn't kill you, you know. It's better than spending hours in the arcade."

"Aw, forget the movies, we should hit the arcade!"

Edward tuned out again as the women tried to veto Emmett's new choice in destination. _Books_, he thought. _She likes books. What kind? Not those fluffy Harlequin romances, no fucking way. She's too fucking smart for that shit._

It all felt strange and foreign to Edward, wanting someone so badly. And not succeeding in getting her was perplexing to him as well. Never had he been short of attention from female fans so the pursuit was something new to him. And the fact he didn't seem to be playing his role properly annoyed him even more.

"Edward?"

Snapping his attention back to the present reality, Edward turned towards his sister. He looked around and saw everybody except Bella eyeing him curiously. She was weaving Alice's short locks into tiny, spiky braids.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You look pissed."

"Uh, no," he replied, rearranging his face into a more pleasant expression. It helped when he glanced past Alice's head to Bella's serenely happy face, the ever present blush staining her pale cheeks. "Just tired. All the traveling and stuff. I'm kinda waiting for the X-Games to be over this year so we can head to Whistler."

"I know what you mean, man," Emmett sighed from the loveseat to Edward's left. "Vancouver's gonna be big tings, big tings."

"Metty, you do know you are the epitome of white suburban male, right?" Bella laughed, mocking the horrible Jamaican accent Emmett had broken out.

"Yo, wha'd ya have ta go an ruin ma fun, gal!"

_**THWACK!**_

"Ow, Rosie!"

---

The six of them spent the majority of the afternoon wandering around Port Angeles lazily, drifting between shops and stores and grabbing a delightfully unhealthy meal of McDonald's for lunch. After receiving a call from Charlie, they headed back towards town to family's factory and shop.

"Eugh, if Eric Yorkie even looks in my direction, I am out of there," Bella shuddered from the furthest back seat of the Emmett's Jeep Patriot. "Last time I was there I swear he sniffed my foot when fitting me for a new pair of skates."

"Ew, my God!"

"He did _what_ now?!"

Bella had been making moves to subtly push Jasper and Alice together all afternoon. Although it meant sticking herself to Cullen's side as everyone else around them was paired off, she was willing to make the sacrifice for Jasper's happiness. At first, when he had gained wind of her plan, Jasper was apprehensive but he couldn't stay that way with the ever bubbly Alice by his side.

Edward was pleased that Bella seemed to be steering herself towards him, even going so far as to sit beside him in the back row when they loaded back into the car to drive back to Forks. Though her demeanor was still somewhat stiff with him, he had managed to make her laugh twice and smile at him three times.

"That is absolutely disgusting," Edward remarked. "Please tell me you kicked the guy in the face or something."

Everybody laughed. Edward smiled, pleased and content to listen to Bella's light, airy giggle all day.

"I did better," she replied. "I let him sniff on. It was the day Jazz and I walked all the way from La Push to the store in the rain."

A chorus of disgusted exclamations riddled the air followed by more laughter.

As the ride drew on, the couples petered off into conversations of their own.

"So," Emmett whistled lowly to Rose, double checking in the rearview that none of the others were listening in. He continued when he was satisfied they were all sufficiently occupied. "Jazz and Alice."

"I think it's cute." Rose smiled. "They're at complete opposite ends of the spectrum from each other, but I think they could make it work."

Emmett's lips set into a thin line, neither a frown nor a smile.

"What?" she pushed, noting his expression.

"Jazz may as well be my brother," he explained, glancing at the tall blonde in his mirror. "My brother and my baby sister's best friend. I don't pretend to understand their relationship because... Just _because_, and even if Bella's all on board for them, I still have to be careful. Jazz hasn't always had it easy..."

"She won't hurt him, if that's what you're afraid of," Rose supplied softly, a warning edge discernable underneath the almost motherly tone. "I don't think Alice is capable of intentionally hurting people she cares about."

Emmett shook his head. "I can't think of anybody that way, you know? I can't believe that anyone is capable of hurting others. But I'm just... I don't know, I guess I'm just being cautious, just in case... _Things happen_."

Reaching over to place her hand on his thigh, Rosalie smiled at him. "You're a good man, Emmett McCarty."

"It's like being in high school all over again," Alice giggled to Jasper as she watched Rose's hand move from Emmett's leg to rest lightly on his hand on the gearshift.

Jasper's eyes followed her line of sight. "How do you mean?"

"They're, like, _the_ two most popular snowboarders in the world," she explained. "They're the golden couple of the winter sport world."

He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdly apt allegory. "Em actually was _that_ guy back in high school."

"No way!"

"Yep." Jasper shifted himself closer to Alice, pretending to whisper in her ear. "Captain of the football and baseball teams, president of student council, homecoming king, the works."

Pleased at his proximity, Alice snuggled all the more closer under his arm. "Wanna know a secret?"

Jasper nodded.

"Rose was the exact same. Head cheerleader, captain of the volleyball team, class president, prom queen, all of it."

The two of the burst out laughing at just how cliché it all was. They settled snugly in their seat, a little closer than their seatbelts would allow.

Fingering the heart-swan charm that hung on a chain around her neck, Bella sunk into her seat and stared absently out the window. She was caught up in her thoughts: would Alice understand the bond she and Jasper shared? And what were the boundaries now that Alice and Jazz were… involved? And did the everyone expect she and Edward to couple off like the others?

Bella was concentrating so hard that she didn't see Edward eyeing her curiously from her left. She startled, though, when she felt a hand gently touch her elbow.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Edward almost hated to disturb Bella, the image of her pensive face staring absently out the window a sight to behold. Her fingers weaved themselves through the chain of her necklace, her brow was furrowed slightly, and her full lips were set in an almost-frown, the corners drooping slightly. Fighting the urge to kiss the downturns away, he reached had his hand over and touched her elbow instead. She jumped in her seat and looked over at him, her eyes wider than normal.

"I'll even give you an American penny if it makes that much of a difference," he joked.

Letting out a soft, half-hearted chuckle, Bella grinned wryly. "I'd much rather Lincoln than a British queen."

"Hey, at least ours is still alive!"

Bella snorted. "Not for long."

The two of them shared a quiet laugh together and as their harmonizing chuckles sounded, something between them shifted. Edward felt something inside of him lift, like trying to win her over wasn't as futile as it had seemed just moments before; Bella felt some sort of release as she glimpsed at him through her laughter, as if her ire with him was physically leaving her body.

"So you're pretty good on snow for a skater."

"You're not so bad yourself," she teased, blushing under his intense gaze.

"Thanks, I do try once in a blue moon," he deadpanned in reply. "I don't know much about figure skating but do you know which events you're competing in at the Games?"

Bella looked at him quizzically and all Edward could do was shrug in response, as if to say, 'I'm trying here, throw me a bone.' Giving him a small smile in return, she watched him relax.

"We're doing ice dancing and Jazz is also in the men's singles events." Bella chuckled lightly to herself. "We're actually kind of odd in the skating world, normally skaters who do pairs will compete in singles, not individual ice dancers."

Edward processed this for a moment. "Oh... What's the difference between ice dancing and pairs?"

"Basically pairs is more technical and ice dancing is more artistic. Pairs get scored on lifts, jumps, combinations, and stuff like that. Ice dancing is more like... Think Dancing With The Stars, but on ice."

Edward nodded. "Oh, okay. And singles, that's more technical, too, then?"

"Yeah. It's rare for ice dancers to compete in singles events but Maggie trained us really well." Bella blushed. "And what about you, are you a pipe rider, cross, or slalom?"

Though he knew he shouldn't have been impressed that the girl knew what she was talking about, Edward still couldn't help but grin widely at her. "I actually do all cross and pipe. I'm considered 'odd', too, I guess."

"Yeah, I'm surprised," Bella agreed. "Not many cross riders do pipe."

"Keeps me on my toes, I guess."

_Kinda like you_, he thought, watching her face light up as they talked about how exciting Vancouver was going to be. He learned that she had gone to BC for various competitions between her, Jasper, and Emmett but had yet to actually explore the city of Vancouver or the town of Whistler.

"So you've never been to Stanley Park or Metrotown or Robson Square?" His tone was incredulous; he had never met a person who had gone to Vancouver and not visited at least one of those three popular tourist landmarks.

Bea shook her head. "Nope. I was always deemed 'too young' to be left to my own devices and Charlie hates playing tourist and Renee... Well, she tends to go overboard on the kitschy tourist stuff, so I try to steer clear.

"Too young?" It never occurred to Edward that she may be young, like _young_-young. Female figure skaters, after all, were notorious for being mere teenagers at the height of their careers.

"Yeah. Crazily overprotective family. I'm nineteen for Christ's sake, not four!"

Bella breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Edward relax. Apparently he hadn't know just how old she was but she was glad to shed some light on the issue. She didn't know why she felt relieved when he did, though. _After all_, she thought, _why would a gorgeous twenty-four year old guy be interested in me?_

---

"Emmett! Jasper! Bella! How are you!"

Wheeling himself out from behind a rack of parkas and winter jackets, Billy Black smiled widely when he saw his best friend's kids. Having had the pleasure of watching the three of them grow up along with his own three kids was something that, since his wife died, Billy had grown to appreciate even more. Especially now since his youngest son Jacob would be joining them in Vancouver.

Greetings were exchanged, the men giving hearty handshakes and Bella leaning over to give an affectionate hug.

"Billy, I'm sure you've met Esme and Carlisle already," Bella said, motioning to the back of the store which opened up to storage then lead to the main workshop of the Swan Song Gear Company's manufacturing headquarters. "This is Edward, Alice, and Rose."

"Pleasure," Billy greeted, sticking his hand out for a shake. He was well informed of who the visitors were, with or without the previous introduction from the elder Cullens. He recognized them easily. "So, everyone excited for Vancouver?"

"You know it!" Emmett boomed, picking up a display boot and turning it over in his hands. "Are these the new model flex boots Dad was talking about?"

"Yep," another voice answered. A second russet skinned man emerged from the storage area carrying a stack of shoe boxes that he set on the front counter. Another set of introductions were exchanged and the Cullens became acquainted with another Swan family friend, Harry Clearwater.

"Your parents are in the workshop, they said to come on back whenever," he told them, handing off his load to a store clerk and turning to Emmett to talk about the new boot design.

Bella walked around the floor, stopping only when she was in front of the Team USA Vancouver 2010 gear display. Pulling a navy knit hat off the pile, she tore the price tag off and jammed it on her head. Checking her reflection in the mirror, she smiled at what she saw and headed over to the cash register to pay for the hat.

Engrossed with Alice in the section if ultralight double thermal lined snow pants, Edward saw Bella skipping towards him wearing a USA emblazoned toque. The grin on her face and the happy lilt to her steps captivated him. So much so that he almost missed the foot sizer lying in the middle of the floor, right in Bella's path. But before he could call out to her she was tripping right over it, heading face first into a bench.

"Shit," was all Bella could say as she felt her body pitch forward. She squeezed her eyes shut. _Please, please, please no major damage_, she silently begged as the air whipped past her ears, heralding the inevitable fall. She braced her arms to her torso so as not to risk breaking or spraining her wrists but she could only hope and pray for the fate of her legs. Suddenly, she jerked to a stop, her body a forty-five degree angle from the floor, and she felt an unfamiliar yet pleasant warmth around her waist.

"Whoa now, you ought watch where you're prancing." Though the voice was familiar, Bella only noticed now how, though a low tenor, it was sweet like honey and smooth like good scotch. Opening her eyes, all she could see was the shiny leather cushion of the bench as she hovered just above it.

"I wasn't prancing," Bella retorted, though most of the sting of her statement was lost to the breathiness of her voice.

Deep, rolling chuckles against her shoulder sent a warmth shivering down her spine and Edward lifted her until she was upright once again.

"I thought figure skaters were supposed to be graceful," he teased. Edward let his hands linger on her waist a moment longer before loosening their hold. He dragged his hands away from her body as slowly as possible. In the process, her shirt rode up beneath his fingertips and he felt the soft, silky skin of her waist break out immediately into goosebumps just as a jolt of electric heat traveled up his fingers and straight into his body. He almost dropped her as the warm but sudden surge ran through him.

Bella didn't know if she really had shivered or if Edward had jostled her slightly, but all she felt was the world shake from the inside out when the pads of his fingers found purchase on the sliver of skin on her sides. A feeling of vague familiarity washed over her as his hands gripped a little bit tighter and she turned to look up at him…

"Jesus, Boo! Be careful, will you?"

"Oh, Bella! Are you okay?"

"Bell?"

The world rushed back like a shot into goal in overtime, leaving both Bella and Edward stunned.

---

A few days later and cheering loudly as he watched Alice cross the finish line, Jasper couldn't help but glow with pride although he really didn't have much of a concrete reason to. His eyes followed her every move as she shucked off her helmet and unclasped the binding of her skis, delighting in the way she shook out her almost nonexistent locks of hair.

_"And it's Alice Cullen with a time..."_

Jasper tuned out the deejay-style announcer and focused on the small woman fifty yards away, cheering and doing a goofy little happy dance that made him smile. Suddenly she stopped and looked over at him, their eyes locking.

His stare was like an embrace, warming Alice the same way just without the physical contact. He smiled at her widely after a second, all shaggy blonde glory and beautifully white teeth. Not until her father had grabbed her into a whooping hug did they break eye contact. Even so, she knew he was watching her- she could feel it, practically see it in her mind's eye- and that fact comforted her as she was ushered away.

---

"There are actually interviewers camped out on the lawn," Esme spat, peeking through the thin slats of the Venetian blinds.

The Cullens, Swans, and several friends and fellow competitors were gathered in the Cullen family cabin- though to actually call and classify the dwelling they were in as a cabin would've been a gross understatement- in Aspen, quietly celebrating the success of the 2010 Winter X Games. And by quietly, it was really only until the parents, coaches, and trainers felt enough time had passed and they could turn their athletic wards loose on the unsuspecting resort town.

"Let 'em camp," Edward cried, double fisting two bottles of Canadian, and certainly not his first pair of the evening. "We'll go out the back, we'll be fine!"

A chorus of cheers went up and the clinking of bottles, cans, and Solo cups could be heard throughout the downstairs. The music was turned up a notch further and the 'quiet' gathering began to pick up speed.

"Congratulations again, Alice!" a bubbly blonde armed with a can of Heineken sang, hugging the miniature Cullen tightly.

"Thanks, Ashleigh," Alice replied, squeezing back. "You, too!"

As the blonde Ashleigh bounced away towards another group, Bella turned expectantly to Edward.

"Ash McIvor, ski cross," he told her, leaning closer although it wasn't wholly necessary. Bella nodded and sipped her vodka cooler.

Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Alice were seated on a large white sectional by the fireplace, casually waiting until they got the go ahead to begin their celebratory night of social debauchery. Bella, intentionally situating herself by Edward so as to give Jasper no choice but to sit on the other side of the sectional with Alice, had grown to actually like and, to her private delight, almost _depend_ on Edward for things ranging from simple company to information, of which- among other things- Edward was full of.

The days between the end of the Nationals up to that moment had been different than her previous forays to Aspen, the last of which had been several years prior. Bella wasn't sure as to _how_ exactly, but she knew the Cullens were definitely the cause of it.

"Hey, have you guys seen Rose?" Alice questioned, sitting up straighter and attempting to take stock of the people in the room.

Edward shook his head, draining the beer in his right hand and putting the empty bottle on the coffee table. In a move he hoped was subtle, he swung his arm around the back of the couch, incidentally also over Bella's shoulders. In the corner of his eye he saw her blush.

"Subtle," Alice laughed, watching them after surveying the crowd.

Bella blushed harder as Edward just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. Both looked towards Jasper for a moment.

Schooling his emotions so he wouldn't fly off the handle, Jasper stared blankly at Edward Cullen, unable to decipher the meaning behind his actions. There was something he couldn't place every time he saw Edward and Bella together and that alone fueled his suspicion. But add to that the fact that he was a stamp, graded, and certified manwhore just launched his unease into the stratosphere.

A petite brunette bounded over to them and instantly Alice and Edward bristled. She was dressed in too tight jeans and a tiny tight blue t-shirt, wielding a drink in one hand. The girl jumped on to Edward's lap despite the fact that Bella was under his arm and practically glued to his side.

"Edward!" she cried happily, peppering his face with sloppy, lipsticked kisses. Edward cringed as he felt Bella stiffen at his side. She moved over but he curled his fingers around her shoulder in attempt to get her to stay put. It didn't work.

"Jane," he replied, his tone unenthusiastic. He finally managed to pry her off only for the girl to take advantage of the growing space between himself and Bella.

_Case in point_, Jasper thought. Alice snuggled herself closer to Jasper and he couldn't help but smile a little smugly.

"Oh, hi, Alice," 'Jane' greeted, the flat and false greeting falling from her lips with an equally fake smile. "Aren't you guys going to introduce me to your friends?"

"No," Alice spat back. She looked over at Bella who seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Go away, Jane."

Jane seemed to choose not to not hear Alice's last comment, instead leaning forward with a 'steadying hand' on Edward's thigh to Jasper, holding out her hand. Alice tightened her hold on Jasper's waist and scowled.

"Hi, I'm Jane Fortune, a close friend of Alice and Edward's."

"Her name," Alice interjected, glaring at the girl as Jasper kept his hand wisely to himself, "is Jane Colarski."

"I go by _Fortune_ now," was the icy reply. "It's my _'suder-nin'_."

Alice and Jasper snickered as Edward attempted, unsuccessfully, to shove her off of him; all he felt were her fingertips digging further and further into his jean-clad leg.

_What the fuck_, he thought, looking desperately over the harpy's shoulder at Bella. She was looking down into her lap, long mahogany hair shielding her face. Edward willed her to look up and see how much he did not want to be in this situation. _Damnit, does this chick have an iron grip or talons of steel or something?!_

"I'm gonna go get something to eat," Bella said quickly, rising to her feet and tripping twice as she sped away. Her eyed were blurred with tears but she was not upset, not really. She was angry: angry at the stupid bimbo, angry at Edward, but mostly angry at herself for letting herself get comfortable with, get somewhat _close_ to Edward. It was obvious even to her that he was uncomfortable but it wasn't as if he were powerless to stop the whore's dry humping. But he just didn't actually _do_ anything to deter her.

_Bella Swan's grade for social interaction? F--_

Wiping the tears away angrily before they fell, Bella managed to maneuver herself to one of the buffet tables. Standing in front of a tray of chilled sushi, she grabbed a small plate and began to select a few pieces.

"These Cullens sure as hell know how to party, eh, Boo?"

Hoping her face was composed enough to pass her brother's inspection, she turned and looked up at him. What she saw made her snicker and, if she wasn't feeling so off put, she'd have made several snarky remarks: Emmett's shirt was obviously inside out and backwards as well as his curly hair more wild than usual. She looked closer and was pretty sure she spied a fresh trail of hickeys leading down to his backwards shirt collar.

"Mmm, sushi." Rosalie sauntered up to them, looking just as equally rumpled as Emmett.

Bella, having put the pieces together immediately, just stared between the two of them not knowing whether to laugh at how obvious they were or to cry because they were happy and everyone else around her was happy and, not for the first time, she was the on the outside looking in.

She was saved from looking insane by Jasper, who came up behind her and pulled her into his arms. Immediately, Bella felt herself ease into calm, though her anxiety and frustration still crept in at the edges.

"So, is that the new style?" Jasper laughed, staring at his surrogate brother a wry grin. Emmett tried hard to look confused but when he looked down at Jasper's urging.

Emmett let out a booming laugh when he looked down and was greeted with his shirt tag. "Aw, fuck."

"I told you to look in a mirror before we came downstairs!" Rose hissed in his ear, smacking his bicep lightly. As Emmett struggled to right the state of his clothing, Rose noticed that Jasper was hugging Bella tightly and whispering something into her ear. A knot of unease settled into her stomach as she wondered if Alice had seen them.

Unbeknownst to Rose, Alice had, just in fact, more than seen their embrace- she had been the one to encourage Jasper to go to Bella while she helped her brother divest himself of his barnacle. Jasper had looked torn between staying with her and going to his best friend and she had let him go with a meaningful glance in the direction Bella had left in.

"Look, Jane," Alice hissed, literally yanking the girl off of Edward's lap by her tank top's strap, "you've ruined our evening, your work here is done. _Go away_."

"_You_ can't tell me to do _anything_," Jane spat back, attempting to climb back on Edward. "I'm pretty sure I was here for Edward, not you."

"And _he_ is here with someone," Edward replied angrily, standing and stepping to the other side of the coffee table so Jane wouldn't meld herself to him again.

"Who, little miss wallflower?" Jane asked snidely before scoffing. "Well, when you're done slumming and want another chance with a real woman, give me a call, Edward."

"Why did you _ever_ sleep with her?" Alice asked before stomping away and leaving Edward dumbfounded.

"What the hell did I do wrong?" he asked himself, stalking over to the nearest cooler. He caught sight of Jane latching herself on to some new, poor unsuspecting bastard. "Never mind."

---

"Hi."

Alice looked up from the giant, warm nest of pillows she, Bella, and Rosalie had huddled themselves in. The party had moved out of the Cullen's cabin and to the streets and bars of Aspen. Bella had refused to join the mobile party and Alice declared that she would stay and keep her company. Rose, sensing something emotionally cataclysmic had occurred, insisted on staying as well. This resulted in their whole group staying back- sans Edward- the men drinking beer and playing video games and the women lounging languidly in front of the fireplace.

"Hi," Alice replied, smiling gently at Jasper who was looking down at the three of them with concern. He sat on the floor beside her, watching her tiny hand finger comb Bella's hair as she slept.

"Jasper, I'm so sorry," Rose whispered. She felt guilty for what happened in regards to Edward and Bella. She had been, after all, the one to introduce Edward and Jane to each other a few years ago. "I didn't--"

Jasper held up a hand. "It's alright, Rose. It wasn't your fault. Just... You'll have to be the one to hold Emmett back from castrating Edward when he finds out."

"It's going to be bad, isn't it?"

Jasper nodded but said nothing. The last time a boy showed any remote interest in Bella, said boy had wound up with gravel burn on one half of his body. The only reason Edward had survived this long was because of Rosalie.

"I still don't understand what happened, though."

Alice sighed. "Jane came waltzing over and practically started molesting him with Bella right there beside him."

The look of confusion on Rose's face morphed from confusion to disgust before falling back to confusion. "And he didn't tell her to go away? Oh, god, he didn't actually try anything with Jane with Bella _right_ there, did he?! I'd kill him myself if he did!"

Alice shushed her as Bella stirred. The three of them held their breath until she settled again.

"No, he didn't do anything like that," Alice replied slowly.

Jasper couldn't help but interject. "But he didn't explicitly say 'stop'."

Rose sighed. "You don't think that, maybe, Bella's overreacting just a little?"

Alice looked to the floor, obvious that this thought had crossed her mind more than once.

"She may be overreacting," Jasper started, "but you guys don't know Bella all that great. She's not exactly..."

"Bells is kinda socially awkward," Emmett supplied from the doorway, surprising them all. "People don't really get her, you know? She acts like social shit doesn't faze her but... It does."

Walking over and joining Jasper on the floor beside the girls' makeshift pallet, he looked over at his sister with a look of fond melancholy.

"What happened? She looked a little off when I saw her but I just thought it was the anxiety."

"Anxiety?"

"Social anxiety," Emmett elaborated for Alice. "It used to be real bad when she was little. Got better when..." He looked at Jasper for a moment and nodded sagely. "But she gets really apprehensive around people. She was actually afraid to meet you guys, afraid you weren't gonna like her."

The girls didn't know how to respond to all the new information, both opting to mull it over silently.

"So what happened tonight?" Emmett finally asked, pulling Rose to his side. He listened, a mask of impassivity in place on his face while the rest of his body grew more and more tense with each piece of the fucked up puzzle that was being revealed to him.

Just as Alice finished the night's recollection with Edward's sullen and seemingly drunk exit with a bunch of the other boarders and a handful of slope bunnies, Edward himself quietly entered the house. His toque was hanging askew on top of his unruly mop of hair and he seemed a load more sober than he had been when he had left a few hours before.

"Hey," he said as they all watched him, eyeing him warily. He held up his hands in surrender as he leant upon the doorframe of the living room. "I know, I know, I'm an ass."

"Damn right you are," Emmett answered quietly, the low volume of his voice seeming infinitely louder than any other time Edward had heard him speak. It made him cringe and take a half step back.

After leaving with Tyler and the guys, Edward had stopped drinking lest he find himself fucking up even more. With the numerous and willing betties being turned his way, he did his best to control the situation and curb the chance of succumbing to temptation. But amidst the congratulations on a good X Games and the wishes of good luck for the Olympics, he couldn't help but see the image of Bella's hurt face looming beneath his eyelids.

His moods had cycled throughout the night. Disgust- mostly with himself for the obvious reasons- came first, followed quickly by anger. Next was denial- that he had done nothing wrong- and that was coupled with indignation that everyone thought he was solely to blame for the situation. After a few more emotional flips, he had finally settled on determination: he would talk to Bella, they would hash this out, and things could go back to the way they were before Jane came creeping along. He hoped with everything in him that the progress they had made hadn't been ruined tonight.

As he walked home through the darkened streets, he fantasized several different scenarios of how their conversation would turn out. Almost all began with his face sporting several degrees of fucked up, him having to heroically take a beatdown from Emmett or Jasper or both. Half ended with Bella leaving him; the others ended on the other end of the spectrum, her jumping into his lap and riding him like a mechanical bull in a bar in Texas on the Fourth of July.

"Em, it's not totally his fault," Alice supplied, trying to stick up for her brother. "But..."

"Look, let's all just go to bed," Jasper suggested, the lethargy of the night's drama causing his body to feel heavy with exhaustion. It didn't help matters that he and Bella had morning skate with Maggie in a few hours. "We can try again in the morning.

Nobody made any moves to drag themselves to the bedrooms on the next floor up so Emmett and Jasper pulled more couch cushions and pillows onto the floor while Edward went off to the linen closet and returned with two armfuls of quilts and blankets.

Looking longingly at Bella before settling on the furthest end of their makeshift pallet, Edward let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

---

Edward didn't know what time it was when he woke up but he knew it was early: the dim gray light was peeking under the blinds and the fire he had fallen asleep to had long since died out. He blinked the sleep away from his eyes as he searched blindly around the room for what it was that had woken him up. He could hear tinkering in the kitchen but it wasn't loud enough to have roused him.

_He looks like a gopher or something_, Bella thought as she watched Edward's head turn to and fro, his hair sticking up at every conceivable angle. It was twenty after five in the morning and she was curled up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate, waiting to go to her morning skate. She hoped Maggie would have some mercy today- she wasn't hungover, but her body was still heavy, having gotten no true rest after she fell into her restless sleep.

Finally, Edward turned her way and the two stared at each other as the room was bathed in slatted gray light.

"You didn't tell her no," Bella said softly, surprising herself at her early AM boldness.

Edward processed her words then studied her face as if her expression held all the answers. Finally, he answered.

"Neither did you, Bella."

Looking at him with eyes that reflected the discord between them she knew he was right.

_No, I didn't_.

* * *

Okay! So the Olympics are over, but I hope nobody loses interest in my little story here! Wasn't that hockey game _THE_ greatest game you've EVAR seen?!? I was, like, LE GASP, on the edge of my seat the whole damn game!!! And the closing ceremonies were awesome, I WANT A BLOW UP BEAVER! ROTFL, please, do not send blow up dolls my way, I have no need for them. And FOURTEEN medals, take that USA and Norway!!!

What was your favorite part of the closing ceremonies? What was your favorite Olympic moment?

Reviews are maple dipped love. :)

Lu²


	8. Cross Species Interaction

**Claimdisler: Thingno own I; beglon to all SMeyer. **I'm dyslexic with a horrible sense of humor. Get over it.

Massive amounts of love to myimm0rtal, qjmom, Charm, Megan, and Z-squared. All your support, cajoling, feedback, just _everything_ means the world to me! More love to the readers and reviewers who stick with me through, well, again, everything - you're all amazing, you are why I love writing and why I keep writing.

Our love for gold medal moments is overwhelming, especially for Shaun White, Torah Bright and in figure skating. Is that a reflection on the story, perhaps?

Sooo, many of you got a little angst happy at the end of the last chapter! Can't say that I blame y'all, though. So we begin with a little levity in this chapter. This is for all of you who love 'Animal Planet: Winter Games Edition'.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Cross Species Interaction**

"What's with the bad French accent thing, anyways?" Emmett asked, sandwiching six fries between two Chicken McNuggets and dipping the whole thing in honey mustard sauce before stuffing it into his mouth in one go.

Rose looked pointedly at Edward, laughing her ass off. But Edward, just about to answer his question, stared at him, dazed by the man's eating habits.

'_The feeding rituals of the Competitus wintersporta animals can usually be divided into one of two instances depending on the species, and sometimes further into subspecies divides. This particular Snowjockus is of the voracia subspecies, made obvious by his gargantuan size, unending appetite, and his sometimes Neanderthal-esque actions._'

"Well?" Bella plied, unwrapping and biting into a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese. When her mouth moved away from the sandwich, there was only half of it left.

"Holy shit," breathed Alice as she watch Bella chew, swallow, and finish off the burger in only her second bite. "If I didn't know you two were related, I'd definitely know now!"

"What? I don't like airplane food," Bella defended.

With his eyebrows lost somewhere under the unruly flop of hair covering his forehead, the Animal Planet voice continued to narrate in Edward's head as his jaw grazed the tabletop, amazed at the massacre of fast food in front of him.

'_Here we find the rarest of rare in the kingdom of competitive winter sports athletes: an Icedancus skatorius jockia-voracia. While appearing to be a regular Icedanus skatorius, those of the jockia-voracia subspecies exhibit many behaviors identical to the Snowjockus athleticus voracia- the voracious appetite in particular._'

"Edward! Dude! Earth to resident animal expert!"

Shaking his head to release himself from the shocked stupor, Edward managed to focus his attention on Rose.

"What was that?"

"They want to know about the bad French accent, _Meester Cousteau_," she teased, reaching over to grab a stray fry from Emmett's tray. Edward could've sworn Emmett let out a small growl as Rosalie munched on.

_Surprised you're making it away unscathed, Rose_, he thought as he amusedly watched Emmett's eyes follow Rosalie's hand as it traveled between his tray and her mouth, the ever dwindling pile of fries seeming to be a cause of increasing alarm.

"It's like in Animal Planet," Edward explained, holding back laughs as he heard Emmett actually whimper when Rose ate the last fry. "I hear that soft spoken narrator's voice in my head but when it comes out it's all Jacques Cousteau, a la _Cries from the Deep_."

Jasper, who had yet to actually speak to Edward since Sunday night, snorted into his Double BigMac. Bella chewed her second burger- a classic McChicken- methodically then swallowed and looked curiously across the table at him.

"Seriously? Like how?"

Edward busied himself with his fries, slightly embarrassed. Things had gone back to normal between the two of them. Or as normal as their growing attraction seemed to be getting. They had mutually and silently decided that Sunday had not happened and, to Edward's ever increasing delight, Bella had continued to warm towards him. But something still didn't feel quite… Right.

And he didn't want to fuck it all up now with his weird mental narration. Or his horrible French accent.

"I dunno," he hedged, poking a fry into some ketchup. "It's just a really bad, bad French accent."

"I wonder whose accent I'd end up having," Emmett mused, one hand on his amazingly flat stomach and the other stroking his chin.

"Crocodile Hunter," they all called out before dissolving into laughter.

"_Oy_!"

---

Edward looked longingly down the aisle to where he could hear Bella's quiet giggles come from. He imagined what kind of little secrets she and Jasper were sharing and the images floating around his brain of the two of them sitting close was driving him insane._ He_ wanted to be the one making Bella laugh like that. _He_ wanted to be the one sitting with her, whispering secrets in her ear. But after Sunday, getting what he wanted… Well, it wouldn't be easy.

"Ali?"

Edward half hoped that she wouldn't hear him through her music but, as always, Alice just _knew_. She took off her headphones and laid them on her lap. He could clearly hear Ashes Divide blaring from the speakers and he wondered how she listened to her music so loud and hadn't yet suffered severe hearing damage. Instead of asking, he stared at the back of the seat in front of him.

"What's up, big brother?"

Alice looked at her brother closely. The muscles in his jaw, arms, and knuckles were all tensed and taut, like too-tight guitar strings. He was swallowing convulsively, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with the effort. Alice knew what this was about. After Sunday night, Edward had been practically morose, except for the hopeful gleam in his eye whenever Bella had been in the room.

"It's… I…" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's about her."

"Bella," she clarified, though it was not a question.

He just nodded before continuing, his eyes darting down the aisle. Alice followed his line of sight and could see the top of Jasper's head, covered in a beige cowboy hat. She smiled instinctively.

"How did you… I mean, it's just… _Damnit_."

"You like her." Again, it wasn't a question. And again he just nodded, earning a meaningful glare from Alice. "You need to say it out loud. If you can't say it out loud, nobody's going to ever know, least of all her."

Edward was scared. Scared shitless. If he said it out loud then it was real. And, though he wanted that reality so damn much, he wasn't sure he was actually ready for it. Girls had been easy, literally and figuratively, for him. Liking Bella, saying the actual words out loud, and meaning them as well… This was like diving into shark-infested waters with his body covered in fresh paper cuts.

It wasn't as if Edward were afraid of being in a relationship with her. That part he almost practically looked forward to. It's just the fact that he'd never been in an actual relationship before, outside of his kindergarten sweetheart Shelby-Anne Connors who broke up with him after a week because he bought her Barbie stickers and she turned out to be a lesbian by the time they were fourteen. So these things in the real world were what freaked him out. He had no doubts that Bella would be perfect; it was himself he was afraid of. He knew he'd do something stupid, he'd fuck it up, he'd be the one causing her tears and that's what he didn't want, never in his life.

"I like her," he said finally, glancing once again down the aisle. Though it felt like a huge weight off of him to almost physically expel the words from inside of him, it didn't make him feel better saying it out loud.

---

"So, Rose and I are going out for dinner," Emmett announced as they waited in baggage claim at Vancouver International. "What's everybody else up to tonight?"

"The four of us," Renee singled out the parents with her finger, "are going out to dinner without the rest of you."

Bella laughed as Alice pointed to some of their baggage coming their way. "Thanks a lot, Mom. We love you, too."

"Well, what do you ladies feel like doing tonight?" Jasper asked cavalierly, coming between them and grabbing the pieces of luggage each was trying to haul off the conveyor.

"Whatever you guys want," Bella replied, shrugging her shoulders as she pulled a baggage cart closer and began to load the bags. "I'm game for whatever."

"Bad move," Edward muttered beside her just as Alice began to dance around, the luggage endeavor forgotten.

"Oh, oh, oh! Eighties throwback night!" she cried, jumping up and down beside the carousel. Jasper couldn't help but laugh as he watched a small group of tween girls looking disdainfully over at Alice's display of excitement.

"Uh, Alice?" Bella laughed as she traded her full cart for an empty one. "I wasn't even born in the eighties."

"Even better, we can show you all the great things you missed!"

"What," Rose piped up, "campy John Huges films, bad haircuts, even worse clothes, and slang that would make even a slack-jawed yokel cry?"

Everyone but Alice laughed and she flipped her fists into two middle fingered gestures. "Hey, Ro, meet my new best friends, Shut The and Hell Up."

---

"I don't get it, Alice," Bella stated as the other girl pranced around and teased her hair happily, a can of non-aerosol hairspray being constantly discharged and the loud smacking sound of Alice's gum chewing setting a rhythm. "You weren't around for the eighties either: you were born in eighty-nine."

"Shhh, it's the principle of the matter, Bella," she scolded in return, another loud pop of the gum abruptly interrupting any kind of response. She glanced over to the digital clock on the dresser. "Where the hell are the guys? They should be back by now."

After the airport, Rose and Emmett had gone to her apartment, the Cullens over to their house in West Vancouver, and the Swans to their rental by the Village. Alice, excited for the night ahead, had barely spent any time at her house, grabbing a quick shower before grabbing Edward and towing him out to the car and to the Swan's rental. Once they had gotten there, she had sent the boys out to Blockbuster and the liquor and grocery stores with a list almost as tall as her.

"Alice, I wouldn't be surprised if they're not back for another two hours with how long that list was."

"It wasn't that bad!" she pouted in return.

"Hey, girls." Renee poked her head into the room. "We're going now. Don't do anything I would do."

They said their goodbyes and once the door was closed, Alice pulled Bella over to sit with her on the bed.

"So while we wait, we talk."

Bella looked over at Alice skeptically, from the neon green headband down to the fuzzy, striped, pompom-ed, and bedazzled legwarmers. "Really, you're gonna make tonight _that_ stereotypical?"

"Oh, c'mon, Bella!" Alice whined, her face scrunched up in overly dramatic irritation that morphed into adorable desperation. "Please?"

Sighing, Bella shrugged. "Fine, sure. What do you want to talk about?"

Clapping her hands as she bounced on the bed, Alice opened her mouth to speak but squealed and scrambled off the bed instead.

"Alice," Bella asked, obviously exasperated though the night had yet to begin. If she had read her Sweet Valley High novels correctly as a kid, she knew what Alice wanted to talk about: boys.

Diving headfirst into her duffle bag, Alice rooted around until her hands clutched at her iTouch. She queued it to the proper playlist and chucked it into the Bose speaker.

"We needed the right music," she chirped with a grin as Rick Astley's infamous 'Never Gonna Give You Up' began to play.

"Oh, my God, I'm being real-life Rickrolled. I don't believe it."

"Oh, hush." She bounded back to the bed, a bag of sour patch kids in her hands. Ripping it open and offering the bag to Bella, she relaxed on top of the bed. "So, how long have you known Jasper?"

"Since forever," Bella replied, tossing an orange sugared gummi into the air and giggling when it bounced off her nose as she tried to catch it in her mouth. "His family moved up to Forks from Texas when I was three."

"Wow, so you guys have been besties since then, huh?"

"'Besties'? Really?" The two shared a laugh. "I guess you could say that. Jazz has been my--"

She stopped short, realizing what she was about to say and to _whom_ she was about to say it to.

"Your...?" Alice prompted, immediately interested in what Bella was now obviously editing in her head.

"Um..."

Bella had never been very close to many females in her life the way she, Alice, and Rose had begun to bond in the past few of weeks. Coupling that with her sometimes questionable verbal filter, Bella knew she had to be very careful with what she would say. It was hard though; suddenly having girl friends was like drinking water for the first time- it was hard to stop even when it became dangerous.

She had just been about to tell Alice that Jasper had been many if not all of the firsts in her life: her first kiss, her first crush, her first boyfriend, her first love, her first lay- and not in any particular order. But she knew better than to spill this to the girl who seemed entirely smitten with her best friend.

"Jazz, he's the best, you know? Always looking out for me and stuff," Bella replied hastily, blushing guiltily as Alice narrowed her eyes at her.

"Oh, c'mon, Bella," she coaxed. Taking a breath, she steeled her resolve for the can of worms she was about to crack open. "I know you two are... _close_."

"_Close_..." Bella repeated slowly, using the same inflection as Alice, knowing exactly what she meant but wanting her to confirm the connotation.

"You know... _Close_." There was a loaded pause and an exchange of meaningful glances. "In the biblical sense. Bumping uglies- well, as if _any_ part of either of you would be ugly."

Bella blushed at the compliment and Alice just offered a kind smile that felt lame to her lips. She felt like she was sitting on cracked glass and the next words out of Bella's mouth would be the shattering point. She willed herself to project a cool, mildly interested façade but knew she was probably failing miserably.

Bella just nodded and replied with a small, "yeah."

This, for some inexplicable reason, relieved Alice and she let out an audible sigh as her shoulders relaxed, releasing the pent up tension.

"I know you really, really like him and everything, Ali," Bella garbled out, her handful of candies raining to the floor and bedspread as she misinterpreted the sigh of relief for one of dejection. "But he really, really likes you, I know it. And it's not like he and I- well, we have, but we've never thought- and it's not like he's in love with me or anything- at least I don't think so, not _in love_ in love- but we're not just, you know--"

"Bella, relax!" Alice shouted, halting the barrage of stutters coming out of Bella's mouth. "I kinda already figured, y'know?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was kind of... Um, obvious."

"Oh."

They were silent, both avoiding the obvious herd of elephants in the room.

"We haven't... You know," Bella hesitated but figured that this was the best way to go and help. "We haven't had... Done _it_ since he met you."

"Yeah?" The spark of hope in Alice's eyes just made Bella all the more sure that she was willing to let her best friend go to be happy with this girl in front of her.

"Yeah." She nodded to reinforce her point.

The silence between them wasn't as awkwardly weighty as it had been just minutes before but there was still the lingering scent of curiosity.

"Is he..." Alice could see Bella's face go red but she couldn't help herself, she had to know. "Is he good?"

Bella's jaw dropped in shock. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she'd ever be having this conversation. "Alice!"

Alice just laughed and all the tension was gone. Popping a few sour gummis in her mouth, she just shrugged. "Oh, c'mon! You'd ask too if you were me!"

"No, I wouldn't!" Bella argued, trying to wonder if she were lying or not. Suddenly a pillow came flying at her face and in the next instant she was staring at the ceiling.

The maniacal laughter coming from Alice did nothing but to spur on Bella's own giggles. The pillows were suddenly flying and shrieks of laughter were all that could be heard.

---

"Dude."

"Yea, dude."

"So."

"So."

"You and my sister, huh."

"Oh."

"Yeah. _Oh_."

"I guess. ... And you and Bella."

"Oh."

"Uh-huh."

...

...

...

"I'm hoping."

...

...

...

"Be good to her, alright?"

"Likewise."

...

...

...

"She hates cherries but loves cherry danishes and cherry Chapstick."

"She only eats white chocolate. No other kind unless it's with white chocolate. And she refuses to kill bugs."

"Butterflies freak her out."

...

...

...

"Cool."

"Cool."

---

After they had calmed down some, Bella and Alice resumed their lounging and talk. There was a certain levity in the room and each girl would sporadically break out into giggles every now and again.

"Your brother and Rose look so cute together," Alice commented as she scrolled through the pictures on Bella's iPhone. She was currently focused on one that featured Emmett playfully yet obnoxiously licking the side of Rosalie's face as she struggled to capture what Alice no doubt figured Rose had hoped to be an adorable self portrait of the two of them.

Leaning over a mound of misshapen pillows to see which picture Alice was talking about, Bella snickered. "He's so effin' gross sometimes. He was so proud in his email, though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Said he found the love of his life." Bella dropped back onto the bed with a wistful smile. "I was all happy for him until I opened up that picture."

"They seem good together," Alice surmised and Bella hummed in agreement. After a few beats of silence, she put the device down on the bed

"So."

"So," Bella mimicked, rolling over and propping herself on an elbow.

"You and Edward...?" Alice's mischievous grin grew wider the redder Bella became. "You like him!"

Smacking a pillow to her face, Bella just sighed. "Is it wrong for me to tell you your brother is all kinds of hot?" she asked, her voice muffled.

"A little," Alice laughed. "But I'll live. So is that why you were all out of sorts on Sunday...?"

"Maybe. I guess. I don't know. I thought- well, I don't really know what I was thinking. Maybe... I guess..."

"Ooooh, chickie, you've got it _bad_!"

"Ali!" she whined in return, taking the pillow from her face and whapping Alice on the head. "I don't know. He was acting all nice to me, really sweet and stuff, you know? And then that girl comes strutting along..."

"He didn't want her," Alice told her, her head propped up on her hands and a knowing glint in her eye. "He was mortified at what happened, blamed the whole thing on himself."

"But it wasn't his fault." _I know that_ now.

"Eh, yeah, Edward's got some serious self-flagellation issues. But he likes you, too, you know."

Bella scoffed. "Sure."

"Fine, don't believe me."

"I won't, thanks." Before Bella could finish her sentence, another pillow came flying at her face.

---

Jasper and Edward could hear the laughter and screaming as they pulled into the driveway of the rental house. They exchanged looks, half skeptical and half amused, as they unloaded the car and began toting everything inside. Once that was done, they crept up to the second floor to the bedroom and Jasper slowly swung the door open.

'_And when I get that feeling, I want sexual healing/Sexual healing is good for me/Makes me feel so fine, it's such a rush/Helps to relieve your mind, and it's good for us…_'

The scene in front of them was something out of the most clichéd porn: there were feathers floating through the air, raining down on the two very feminine bodies that were tangled up in each other on the bed. Edward blatantly ignored his sister, opting to focus solely on the brunette whose head was hanging upside down from the edge of the bed. He inhaled sharply and heard Jasper doing the same. It didn't help matters that 'Sexual Healing' was still playing.

"Fucking hell," Jasper groaned, his eyes wide and unsure of whether to stare or look away.

Bella and Alice froze at the sound of Jasper's low, strangled mutter. Staring from their tangled position on the bed, they could see both males had gone whiter than sheets, and their eyes looked in grave danger of rolling right out of their heads.

"Um, hi."

Alice snorted, knowing exactly which gutter and how far down it the guys' minds were. "There wasn't enough Jell-O or pudding and it's too cold outside for mud."

"Alice!" Bella hissed half-heartedly from underneath her. She rolled on to her stomach when Alice rolled off and got a good look at the slack-jawed faces staring from the doorway. She understood the urge to tease them an gave in. "Too bad you guys came too early. We were just about to put on our PJs."

Both girls broke out in laughter when Jasper fell to his knees.

"Please God, I can't tell if you're being cruel or kind!" he lamented in mock anguish before diving into the feathered melee. The bed shook with their laughter as the three bounced merrily.

"There's always room for one more," Bella said to Edward shyly as she watched him standing in the doorway. He grinned at her and sauntered into the bedroom.

'_Hah huh-hah hah uh hah…_'

"What the...?" He stopped in his tracks just as the song changed, his face scrunching up in distaste. "Is that... 'True' by Spandau Ballet?"

The girls broke out laughing but Jasper just gave him an incredulous look.

"Man, I don't even wanna know how you knew that."

The four of them eventually brought their antics down to the living room where Alice began to pick through the bags the boys had brought home, arranging the food on the coffee table and the breakfast bar and the movies and board games between the television and fireplace.

"Darlin', I don't think Rose was actually serious when she was talking about a John Hughes marathon," Jasper pointed out as he watched from the couch as Alice sorted the almost two dozen movies before she flitted away. He had a good feeling that interrupting her actions could lead them into chaos.

"But this way we have a choice!" she exclaimed, poking at the iHome system as she passed it. The unmistakable intro of Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger' began to play and she swayed around the room to the beat.

"Told you not to bother arguing with her, man," Edward pointed out as he plopped down into the love seat next to him. "You can try but you will never, ever win."

Alice beaned him in the forehead with the pretzel bite she was about to eat. "I know you're right, but that doesn't mean I like to hear it."

---

By the end of 'Pretty In Pink' and half way through 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', Alice and Jasper were snuggled on the couch, talking lowly to each other as they laughed at the on screen antics of Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck. Bella and Edward on the other hand were squished into opposite corners of the tiny loveseat.

Feeling her heated gaze on him just as Ferris left the Ferrari with the valet attendants, Edward turned and caught her eye. Bella blushed and hid her face behind her knees.

"Hey, now," Edward whispered, figuring he had an all or nothing chance here. Scooting closer to her, which didn't take much effort, he tugged at her ankle until she let her legs flop down and he could see her bright red face. "What's with the blush?"

Bella felt the heat in her face intensify and she just shook her head.

"C'mon, now," he plied, poking her thigh playfully with his finger. "We were getting along pretty well there for a while."

At that, Bella's embarrassment was coupled with the unpleasant feeling Sunday's mess had left her with and she started to bite her lip in uncertainty.

"Bella…" Edward didn't have a clue in hell as to what to do next. Everything about the girl in front of him was unpredictable: when he thought he had her pegged, she'd about face and do the opposite of what he thought she'd do. He looked at her, pleading with his eyes for a clue as to what was going on in her head. "Look, Bella, I know last Sunday was… Can we just start over again? I want to- I want _us_ to start over again."

"Us?" she questioned quietly, angling herself so she faced him head on. She could read the sincerity in his eyes, feel the weight of everything unspoken between them.

He nodded. "Us. I… I like you, Bella. I'm pretty damn sure you like me, too. You and me… We could be good, you know?"

Bella studied his face as she went over his somewhat less than eloquent words in her head. The longer she stayed silent seemed to unnerve him and she watched as his hand flew to his already messy hair and dragged though it heavily.

"Okay," she replied after a time, grabbing his hand as he went to pass it through his hair a fourth time.

Edward wasn't sure what she meant, but he took it as a good sign, especially when she took his hand and twined her fingers with his own "Yeah?" She nodded. "Okay."

---

The six of them were riding in a shuttle bus along with Carlisle, Sam (Emmett's coach and trainer), Maggie, and a dozen or so other athletes, coaches, and trainers to the Olympic Village. Alice, seated beside Jasper, was ignoring the volunteer at the front who was making speech, instead taking to bouncing in her seat and chattering away with some of her Team Canada teammates in the seats behind her.

"I don't care if he's dating my baby sister, dude's going down."

Edward, contentedly staring out the window with an arm around Bella's shoulders, looked across the aisle to where Emmett and Rose were seated.

"Yeah, that's right, Cullen," Emmett laughed. "Just because Booboo there likes your pretty face doesn't mean you're not gonna eat snow."

Edward blanched and stuttered. It wasn't the part where Emmett threatened to make him 'eat snow', but the bit where he said he and Bella were dating that threw him off. After the eighties night, he and Bella had spent every day together in the company of everyone else. The extent of the contact had been innocent, mostly hand holding and hugs and chaste displays of affection. There wasn't much Edward could do in the presence of parents and siblings.

_Is that what we're doing? Dating?_

"Shut up, Em," Bella yawned as she peered over Edward's shoulder at her brother. It didn't escape Edward's notice that there was a vibrantly pink blush betraying her nonchalant words. "Oh, hey, Seth."

The guy Emmett was talking to was in the seat behind Emmett and Rose. Edward recognized him as Seth Wescott and they both waved.

"Hey, Cullen, hey, squirt. How goes it?"

"Pretty good," Edward answered as Bella climbed into his lap.

"I'm _so_ excited," Bella tittered, feigning unawareness of the effect her every slightest movement was having on Edward. She bounced a little to emphasize her point and she giggled when Edward let out a little groan. She knew that she was getting sick and tired of all the PG rated affection and she figured that he had to be as well.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Edward whispered in her ear, his lips grazing the sensitive lobe. Bolts of electric heat coursed through her and settled into the pit of her stomach. "Or get me killed?"

She smiled coyly but ignored him, focusing hard on the conversation she was now having with Rose, Em, Seth, and some of the other guys on the US Whistler team.

_Speaking of hard..._ Bella chuckled wickedly to herself as she subtly ground down on the prominent bulge she felt in the lap beneath her.

---

"Kidnapping your sister, dude!" Edward called to Emmett when the bus pulled up to the Village. The ride had been absolute torture for him, every stop, bump, and slightest jostle the bus made moving Bella in such delicious ways in his lap. But through his pain, he realized something: he had yet to take Bella on an actual date. With that thought, he was determined to rectify that and began to formulate a plan.

He tugged Bella along with him, zigzaging around the multitudes of volunteers, officials, coaches, trainers, and athletes that milled around the entrance to the Athlete's Village. He could hear Jasper, Maggie, and his father yelling after them and it only made him move faster. But he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when he recognized Emmett's booming chuckles.

"Remember, kids: no glove, no love! Skin to skin just ain't in! Cover your stump before you hump! Don't surprise her, plug you geyser! Avoid a frown, dress up yo-- Oww! Jazz, dude, man! I was just joking!"

The uproarious laughter made escaping easier and Edward delighted in listening to Bella's happy squeals of laughter just behind him.

"Cullen! Where are you taking me!"

He stopped at a curb two blocks down and pulled Bella's petite body into his own.

"I'm glad Emmett doesn't want to kill me," he whispered, inches away from her face.

"He's not the kind to hold a grudge." Her smile transformed into a small frown. "But Jazz..."

"Is busy with my sister, so he can't say shit all."

Bella looked up at him, Edward's normally peridot green eyes now a smoldering dark jade. She licked her lips and watched as his eyes darted down to watch her tongue move. He mirrored her actions and she couldn't help but stare as well.

_Please kiss me,_ she thought desperately. After the horrible Sunday in Aspen she had all but forgotten just how close they had been getting. But she couldn't forget their shared words the next morning or their conversation from the eighties night after. _Please don't tell me to stop. Please want this._

Leaning down and breathing in the scent of pure Bella, Edward let out a small sigh. "Bella, I really want to kiss you."

"I really want you to," she whispered. "Please."

Holding her delicate face in his hands, Edward lowered his lips to the corner of her mouth and kissing her softly there before dotting kisses along her bottom lip until he had reached the other corner. Edward smiled at the small whimper he felt leave her lips.

_She wants this,_ he thought, _maybe just as much as I do_.

Bella, sick and tired of waiting, lifted herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him full on the mouth. She sighed happily at the warm weight of his lips and just how right it all felt. The sizzling electricity between them exploded into white stars behind her eyelids and she could swear she heard a low buzz in her ears.

She threw her arms around his neck and, after his initial shock wore off, his hands slipped down her jacketed body to rest on her hips. It felt like the ground underneath his feet was shaking as a blanket of pure and absolute serenity surrounded him. Bella's lips were so soft and warm against his and her tongue slipped into his mouth and caressed his own. She tasted like strawberries and vanilla and watermelon lip gloss and he wanted to carry a sucker with those flavors for whenever she wasn't around.

"Whoa..." Bella blinked up owlishly at him when they broke away, chests heaving for breath.

"Yeah," Edward agreed, licking his lips and grinning stupidly at her. "Whoa."

Grinning at each other stupidly, they stood and waited for their breathing to even.

"So, you're kidnapping me," Bella reminded him. "And where is it you're taking me to?"

Instead of answering her, Edward stepped off the curb and peered up and down the street. Finally, when a cab came in view, he raised his arm and the taxi slid up to them.

"It's a surprise," he told her simply as he held the passenger door open for her. She looked at him skeptically and he nodded towards the back of the cab. "I do plan on joining you. I'm not gonna slam the door shut and make him drive you back to the Village, you know."

Finally relenting, Bella slid into the seat and Edward dutifully followed.

"Harbour Centre," he informed the driver.

Bella raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned crookedly at her in return. She felt her insides practically melt at the sight of the lopsided smile.

As the cab began to move, Edward took her hand in his. The static warmth he had come to associate with the touch of Bella's skin didn't fail him and he watched as she shivered slightly, knowing she could feel it, too. They rode in the backseat like that, hand in hand, and Bella made a game of trying to guess what exactly was at Harbour Centre.

"Is it… A museum?" she asked, waiting as he paid the driver and got out of the cab.

"We're here, can't you wait another five minutes?" Edward playfully admonished, laughing and kissing her jutted bottom lip when she began to pout.

Looking at the building they had pulled up in front of, Bella was reminded of the Space Needle, only the building in front of her had the body of a regular building. It looked strange to her eyes, and not all that attractive.

"C'mon, sweets," Edward encouraged, tugging on her hand. She followed him into the building and waited patiently as he bought tickets to whatever it was they were doing. Her eyes traveled around the building lobby and saw signs for various tourist attractions, on in particular that caught her eye.

"Oh! The three-sixty view of the city?" she guessed, drawing a laugh from some of the other patrons nearby. "Is that what we're doing?"

Edward pretended to be crestfallen. "Aw, you figured it out! Now we have to go and do something else!"

"What?! No!"

Laughing, he brought the tickets to her face. "Just kidding."

He took her hand and they walked over to the elevator, Edward explaining all the different aspects of the Harbour Centre as they went.

"It's great; a huge glass elevator like in Willy Wonka's factory—"

"Did your face seriously just _light_ up?" Bella teased as they entered the elevator. "Really? Willy Wonka?"

"Shut up," Edward defended. "In my defense, I only liked the one with Gene Wilder. As good as Johnny Depp and Tim Burton are, that version was just too creepy."

Bella wanted to say something else to rile him up- he was cute when he was affronted, what could she say?- but the view of the city as they ascended took her breath away.

"It's beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," Edward whispered, not staring out at the growing panorama outside the glass but over at Bella. The mid-afternoon sun shone and made her skin glow like fresh peaches and her hair radiated a breathtaking reddish halo around her face. "It really is."

Bella notice too late that Edward hadn't even looked out the glass and she could feel the blush heat her cheeks in delicious, Edward-induced embarrassment. Because they were sharing the elevator with several others, all she could do was move closer to him and grasp his hand tighter.

At the top of the tower, they were let out on to the glass encased observation deck. Bella couldn't help but gasp again, the magnificent 360° view making her stop dead in her tracks.

"C'mon," Edward coaxed. "It's not going anywhere."

There were other groups of people up on the deck with them and several guides explaining the different sights that could be seen from their high vantage point. Edward had opted out of the complimentary tour, wanting Bella's attention all to himself. He brought her over to one of the windows. Here, they were standing in front of the harbour area, large ships churning in and out of the port.

"Port Metro Vancouver," he told her. "I'm pretty sure those are cargo ships."

Moving a little ways down the windowed wall, he began pointing out more specific spots.

"What's that big white dome thingy?" Bella asked, pointing hard at the glass.

"BC Place," Edward told her, abandoning his position on explaining the CP Rail line. "That's where they're having the opening ceremonies on Friday and the closing ceremonies, too."

"You're going to be at the ceremony, right?" Bella looked up at him expectantly. She noticed that his arms were on the railing on either side of her, caging her in. Turning in the almost-embrace until they were nose to nose, Bella felt her breath hitch.

"Course. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

He grinned down at her, wanting so badly to caress the pink tinged apples of her cheeks but afraid that they were moving too fast. He had just kissed her for the first time less than an hour ago, that didn't exactly give him the right to go pawing at her. Right? So instead he gently grasped her shoulders and turned her to face the window again. He pointed out all the different Olympic venues.

"That's General Motors Place, where they're going to be holding the hockey games." He pointed as he rested his chin lightly on her shoulder. "Um… Oh, and there's the Pacific Coliseum, where you'll be."

"Which one?" Bella asked, tracing his finger with her own and eventually pointing at the glass in the same direction. "The one that looks like the huge silver dollar?"

Edward couldn't help but laugh. "Yep, that's the one."

A tour guide close to them with her group and had begun to point out the Olympic venues as well. Bella and Edward subtly inched closer, listening to what the tour guide had to say.

"And if you look across the harbour, you'll see Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver where the skiing and snowboard events will be taking place. The ski and snowboard cross track was designed by famed course designer Jeff Ihaksi. It's said that he buried an Vancouver 2010 Olympic loonie somewhere along the stretch of the last berm to bring good luck to the Canadian teams, like they do in hockey."

"What is she talking about?" Bella whispered as she tugged Edward away from the group. Her eyes darted between the Pacific Coliseum and Cypress Mountain, where she was going to be and where he was going to be.

"Canadian Olympic tradition, I guess," he answered. "In hockey and curling, they put a loonie on the rink before they ice it over, brings good luck."

Bella snorted. "Yeah, well, you'll need it."

"Hey, hey, hey, there, little girl!"

"Well, you'll be facing Emmett and your hockey team will be going against the likes of Jake--"

"Jake? Who's Jake?"

"Oh!" Bella thought back to their time in Forks. "We didn't tell you? Jacob Black, Billy's son, is a wingman for the US team."

"Jacob Black, as in Chicago Blackhawks right winger Jake Black?"

Bella nodded.

"Damn, what do they feed you kids in Forks?" he teased. He recalled the last Blackhawks game he saw on TV; Jake Black, number 90, was one of the biggest players in the league and the current record holder for most minutes in penalty in a season for on-ice altercations. Edward was glad he wasn't a hockey player and didn't have to go up against _that_. "Well, you guys may have Black, but we have Crosby."

"I won't even pretend to care what you're talking about," she shot back. "You may have Crosby but we have Miller to take care of him. And Orpik plays on the Pens with Crosby, he know his strategy."

The two of them argued back and forth for a little while until Edward, whose hands now rested on either side of Bella's waist, felt and heard her stomach gurgle.

"Hungry, are we?" he teased. "Eating out the whole McDonalds at the airport earlier wasn't enough for you?"

"Shut up." Bella couldn't help but blush.

Letting her go and wrenching his body away from her warmth, Edward took her hand and went back to the elevator.

"Where to now?" she asked as they got in and rode to the next floor. The elevator doors opened and she could smell aromas that made her mouth water.

"Welcome to the Top Of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant!"

Bella spied the too chipper hostess before marveling at the grandiosity of the restaurant before her. She wasn't a stranger to restaurants of this caliber or revolving restaurants in general; she and Jasper had dined many a time at Sky City in Seattle. But there was just something more beautiful about this place and she was glad that it was Edward bringing her and sharing this experience with her.

They were lead to a small table overlooking, well, _everything_, and that's when Bella noticed just how chipper and… _friendly_ the hostess was being to Edward. The woman was leaning over his arm, touching his hand, throwing her hair back in a futile attempt to be noticed, and talking as if Bella weren't even present.

_The nerve!_

She chanced a look to Edward who's attention was wholly focused on… Her. The blush that hadn't left her cheeks since they got out of the taxicab intensified once again as she watched Edward practically ignoring the hostess.

"Yeah, just two dessert menus, please," he told her, not taking his eyes off her once. "Unless…?"

"No, dessert menus will be fine," she replied, inordinately pleased with Edward. The hostess, realizing just how unwanted she was, dropped their menus on the table top and informed them in a terse voice that their server would be with them shortly.

Edward wasn't stupid. He could see that the hostess was after him like a fat kid after a candy bar. But he couldn't have cared less about her because Bella was looking at him, her huge brown eyes shining and a small smile on her face that he liked to think was only for him. When the woman finally left, he grasped Bella's hand over the table.

"I'm really glad you let me kidnap you." He didn't want to freak her out with the intensity he felt burning inside of him, so he slipped in their little joke. But he was secretly hoping that she would see past his words.

"I think I may be developing Stockholm Syndrome."

She smiled his smile at him once again.

* * *

**They kiss. YAY!**

Now - WG Census: Favorite John Hughes film? Favorite 80's anthem? What sporting events are you looking forward to now?

Add the twitter luluvee and check the blog because you're all great and you love me. I add back on Twitter because I'm cool like that.

Reviews are like being kidnapped by Cullen- let's face it, who wouldn't get Stockholm Syndrome if he were your captor?

Lu²


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